Source link : https://bq3anews.com/why-stephen-colbert-is-correct-in-regards-to-the-equal-time-rule-in-spite-of-warnings-from-the-fcc/
Communicate display host Stephen Colbert made headlines on Feb. 17, 2026, when he wrapped a community commentary in a dog-waste bag and tossed it within the trash.
He did it are living, whilst on air.
The transfer got here after CBS attorneys reportedly informed him he may now not broadcast a scheduled interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on his display, Overdue Evening with Stephen Colbert. In line with Colbert, the community warned him that broadcasting the interview may cause the Federal Communications Fee’s equivalent time rule, which calls for broadcasters to permit political applicants equivalent get right of entry to to the country’s airwaves.
CBS mentioned it gave Colbert “legal guidance” that airing the section may carry equivalent time issues and urged different choices.
Colbert countered that during many years of late-night tv, he may now not discover a unmarried instance of the rule of thumb being enforced in opposition to a chat display interview. He in the end posted his Talarico interview on YouTube as a substitute, the place broadcasting laws don’t practice.
As a media pupil, I imagine Colbert is correct in regards to the legislation. Congress has intentionally secure editorial discretion to stop equivalent time laws from chilling political speech. And the FCC has prolonged this privilege to presentations like his.
To know why, you need to return to 1959 and to a forgotten combat over the function of broadcasting in…
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Author : bq3anews
Publish date : 2026-02-22 14:43:00
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