Trump FCC investigates The View, reportedly says "fake news" will be punished

"The FCC Media Bureau's January 21 public notice to broadcast TV stations said that despite a 2006 decision in which the FCC exempted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from the rule, current entertainment shows may not qualify for that exemption. "Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption," the notice said."

"The Media Bureau's January 21 notice said the equal-time rule applies to broadcast TV stations because they "have been given access to a valuable public resource (namely, spectrum)," and that compliance with "these requirements is central to a broadcast licensee's obligation to operate in the public interest." The FCC notice got this detail wrong, according to Harold Feld, a longtime telecom attorney who is senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge."

""Yes, contrary to what a number of people think, including, annoyingly, the Media Bureau which gets this wrong in its recent order, this is not a 'public interest obligation' for using spectrum," Feld wrote. "It's a conditional right of access (like leased access for cable) that members of Congress gave themselves (and other candidates) because they recognized the power of mass media to shape elections.""

The Media Bureau's January 21 notice warned that, despite a 2006 exemption for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, current entertainment shows may not meet the bona fide news exemption for equal-time obligations. The notice stated that no evidence shows interview portions of late-night or daytime talk shows presently qualify for that exemption. The notice asserted the equal-time rule applies to broadcast TV stations because they use publicly allocated spectrum and that compliance is central to a broadcast licensee's public-interest obligations. Harold Feld of Public Knowledge argued the equal-time rule also applies to cable and noted the FCC has interpreted Section 315(c) as applying only to locally originated cablecasting, not national cable channels, limiting enforcement against national outlets.

Read at Ars Technica