U.S.

Court Tosses On-Air Rebuttal Rules

October 11, 2000 / 2:22 PM EDT / AP

A federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out rules that require broadcasters to give candidates a chance to respond to personal attacks and political endorsements.

Just last week, the Federal Communications Commission suspended the rules for the remainder of the 2000 election season to test the validity of broadcasters' claims that the rules have a "chilling effect" on free speech.

The FCC, responding to a court directive to better justify the existence of the regulations, said it would evaluate its next course of action after a two month suspension of the rules.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the commission's suspension of the rules failed to respond to the concerns raised by broadcasters and simply amounted to yet another delay. The court had asked the FCC a year ago to provide more justification for the decades-old rules.

"It is folly to suppose that the 60-day suspension and call to update the record cures anything," the court said in a tersely worded opinion. The FCC's "response consists of an order that further postpones a final decision without any assurance of a final decision."

One regulation requires TV and radio stations that endorse a political candidate to notify and give free rebuttal time to the candidate's opponent. The other rule requires broadcasters to provide politicians or other private citizens with air time to respond when they have been attacked during a program.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which had led opposition to the rules, celebrated the court's decision.

"Today is a great day for the First Amendment," said NAB president Edward O. Fritts. "This decision represents a historic victory in the 20 year fight to grant broadcasters the same free-speech rights as print journalists."

The FCC is reviewing the court's decision and had no immediate response. The court said the commission could write new rules, a process that takes months of soliciting public and industry comments.

The rules had been challenged by the NAB and the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). Both groups last week chided the FCC's decision to suspend the rules to collect more information, saying it shifted the burden of justifying the regulations to broadcasters.

The commission had asked broadcasters to provide information at the end of the two months on the number of political editorials run compared with previous election cycles and on complaints about personal attacks. The FCC also said it would seek comments on whether to expand the scope of the rule in giving parties a right of reply to broadcasts.

Two of the FCC's commissioners sharply objected to the commission's effort.