ABSTRACT
Although the Communications Act prohibits outright censorship of broadcast programming by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this does not mean that broadcasters have escaped Commission action in this area. Indeed, as noted earlier in this book, throughout the years the Commission has retained varying degrees of interest in the regulation of broadcast programming content. The Commission’s concern stemmed from enforcement of the public interest standard. Based on this standard, policies were developed, including localism, network affiliation rules, “promise versus performance,” and the Fairness Doctrine.
