[Nicholas Johnson served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, 1966-1973, and currently teaches communications law at the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. His wife, Mary Vasey, an educational reform consultant, accompanies him. Address: Nicholas Johnson, Box 1876, Iowa City IA 52244 USA. E-mail: njohnson@inav.net Web page: http://soli.inav.net/~njohnson For reference book see: Carter, Franklin and Wright, The First Amendment and the Fifth Estate (5th ed., New York: Foundation Press, 1999), Chapter 5 “Legal Control of Broadcast Programming: Political Speech.”]

• Ownership options: government, public, private with regulation

• FCC as “independent regulatory commission” since 1927 Radio Act

• Communications Act of 1934

• U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Tornillo and Red Lion

• Section 315 “equal opportunity doctrine”: “If [broadcaster] . . . permit[s] . . . legally qualified candidate . . . to use station . . . equal opportunities to all other[s] . . ..” (Who is “candidate”? Broadcaster censorship? Hate speech? What is “use”; include non-political appearance? What about “uses” by supporters?)

• 1956 exemptions (“bona fide” newscast, news interview, news documentary, on-the-spot coverage news events)

• Debates (1960 (waiver); 1962 (not exempt); 1975 (is exempt if news, sponsor); 1983 (broadcaster sponsorship approved); 1987 (candidate sponsorship if news); political consequences of media exposure

• “Lowest unit rate”

• “Reasonable access” for federal candidates, Section 312(a)(7) (When does the campaign begin?)

• “Personal attack” rules (legal obligation to let person attacked respond)

• “Political editorial” rules (similar)

• The “fairness doctrine” (must (a) present “controversial issues” and (b) present range of views. Origin; purposes; administration; repeal.)

• Implications for new technologies: satellite distribution, videotapes, Internet/Web pages