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Licensing.Networks are not licensed, but their broadcast stations are.
That said, the FCC is controlled by whichever party holds the White House.
If Trump were return to power, he would be given a 3-2 Republican majority.
Donald TrumpMichael M. Santiago / Scott Olson / Getty Images
Licenses rarely are revoked, but they have been challenged when an eight-year term expires.
Moreover, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 limited the criteria for revoking a license.
It was essentially impossible before then, he said.
It is totally impossible now.
This isnt to say that news programming is immune from any FCC enforcement.
One area is a broadcast news distortion policy.
Expressions of opinion or errors stemming from mistakes are not actionable, according to the agency.
The sanction was a fine, and the segments ran more than 1,700 times.
But their petition is focused on the character of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.
The FCC has yet to make a decision.
Equal time.Broadly speaking, this rule is meant to ensure that candidates receive equal access to the airwaves.
There also is a rather large exemption for bona fide news programming, interviews, documentaries and news events.
That applies to everything from the local evening newscast to debates to late-night talk shows.
The rules also do not apply to cable channels or web-based video, streaming podcasts or social media.
And its up to the candidates to request equal time; not all of them do.
But there have been recent situations where a broadcaster was on the hook.
This happened in 2015, afterTrump hostedSaturday Night Live.
The equal time rule is not to be confused with…
Fairness Doctrine.This rule required that broadcasters covered issues in a way that reflected differing viewpoints.
This is still standard practice in many sectors of journalism, but as an actual regulation it is moot.
The abolishment of the doctrine helped usher in politically charged talk radio, withRush Limbaughemerging as the biggest star.
The broadcast stations also are prohibited from rejecting or censoring ads from legally qualified candidates.
