Rep. Walden Will Go 'Nuclear' If FCC Adopts MAP Petition Commissioner Copps supports changes to sponsorship rules; 'citizens ought to know'
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 4/1/2011 6:24:04 PM http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/466160-Rep_Walden_Will_Go_Nuclear_If_FCC_Adopts_MAP_Petition.php Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said Friday that if the FCC were to use its sponsorship ID enforcement powers to require on-air identification of the people who are actually paying for political commercials, he would go "nuclear," confirmed an aide. "He would be calling for the football to get the [nuclear] codes," said the staffer. That declaration came in a talk Friday sponsored by POLITICO Pro. Walden, who is chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee, said that he did not want the FCC regulating speech, according to an attendee. In this case, the reference was to a petition to the FCC filed by Media Access Project asking it to require on-air identification of the people who are paying for political commercials or issue ads. The petition is partly in response to the Citizen's United decision by the Supreme Court, which allowed companies and unions to directly fund campaign ads. Democrats in Congress tried to toughen disclosure laws in response, but the bills did not pass. "The FCC has repeatedly said that members of the public are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded, and it has stressed that this is especially important in the case of political messages," said MAP's Andrew Schwartzman. "This petition simply seeks to update the FCC's rules to fulfill its Congressional mandate." Commissioner Michael Copps supports changes to the sponsorship rules. He told a C-SPAN audience this week that if you have an ad on TV paid for by "Citizens For Spacious Skies and Amber Waves of Grain," citizens ought to know it if was really paid for by a chemical company refusing to clean up a toxic dump. Copps said he was not trying to cut off those acts, but that MAP was on the right track. "I think it is time for this," he said. Walden clearly does not, seeing it as an end-around after Congress did not pass tougher on-air disclosure laws backed primarily by Democrats. The aide also said Rep. Walden's April 12 spectrum hearing, which will be one of several, will be a broad one. It will almost certainly include issues of spectrum hoarding, the meaning of "voluntary" in voluntary incentive auctions, and more. While spectrum is top of the list of Subcommittee issues, the aide said Walden would likely turn next to FCC processes. "He will be digging into FCC processes," he said. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
