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From: radford@calgary.UUCP (Radford Neal)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Free speach and government regulation of TV
Message-ID: <30@vaxb.calgary.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 23-Mar-86 16:17:48 EST
Article-I.D.: vaxb.30
Posted: Sun Mar 23 16:17:48 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Mar-86 04:03:47 EST
References: <1691@bbncca.ARPA> <536@whuts.UUCP> <1636@ihlpg.UUCP> <1045@whuxl.UUCP>
Organization: U. of Calgary, Calgary, Ab.
Lines: 35

In article <1045@whuxl.UUCP>, orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) writes:

> I find this sort of censorship and blatant bias contradicts claims
> that (a)there is a "liberal" bias in the media (quite the opposite
> is *indeed* the case)  (b) one can always *BUY* time to present
> one's opinions.  Certainly a 30-minute program, while more in-depth,
> is harder to put on.  But then again the American College of
> Obstetricians and Gynecologists has been among many groups denied
> access even to 30-second spots on late-night TV.

Now why should this be? Presumably the groups affected are willing to
pay enough for the time to compensate the TV station for their lost
revenue, including the effect on neighboring show's viewing share,
otherwise this is hardly a fair criticism. TV stations are generally owned
by corporations, so it's unlikely the owners have personal opinions that
lead to these refusals. If corporate management is acting against the
interests of the shareholders to suppress opinions *they* don't like, they
leave themselves open to lawsuites from infuriated shareholders.

This leaves two possibilities:

    - The TV stations think airing these programs will annoy their
      audiences and thus affect later revenues.

    - The TV stations think they may loose their licences or have
      other regulatory problems as a result of airing the shows.

The first *could* be a factor, but it seems unlikely to be major. Do
viewers of *Dallas* really care about what political opinions have been
aired on the station?

So my guess is that these problems stem from fear of government regulation.
The solution seems obvious, though I doubt Sevener would agree with it.

      Radford Neal