AMERICAN BROADCASTING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1987

A forceful, lively argument for deregulation of broadcasting. Powe (Law/Texas) identifies his target at once: the assumption ""that broadcasting is not entitled to the full range of First Amendment privileges enjoyed by the print media."" This assumption, he explains, has dominated legal consideration of broadcasting--radio and TV--since the 1920's, when the Federal Radio Commission was established and given the power to revoke, as well as grant, licenses (no analagous governing body exists within the print world). The Supreme Court, Powe demonstrates, has consistently upheld this assumption, most dramatically in its 1969 Red Lion vs. FCC decision that scarcity of airwaves not only necessitates licensing, but makes it ""idle to posit an unabridgeable First Amendment right to broadcast."" Powe goes on to show how, backed by the courts' ghetto-izing of broadcasting, politicians from FDR onward have abused the Federal government's regulatory powers, culminating in Richard Nixon's notorious ""assault on the networks."" He then turns his attention to a recent Supreme Court decision that has limited freedom of expression in broadcasting even further, the Pacifica case in which the Court categorized radio as an ""intruder"" in the home and thus subject to censorship--a decision that opened a floodgate of over-zealous FCC censorship that continues even today. Powe winds up with a quick look at forthcoming regulation and censorship of cable TV, and concludes by reiterating his position that since any regulation necessarily leads to abuse (power corrupts), full First Amendment protection should be extended to broadcasting as well as print. Powe writes that he intended his book to be ""easy--and fun--to read."" It is, and that's just a pleasant bonus to this challenging and vital contribution to civil libertarian thought.

Pub Date: April 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Univ. of California Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION