By Jenna Monnin
The FCC is reviewing whether “The View” qualifies for the equal-time exemption for its political interviews. News programs are exempt from federal law that requires equal time for political candidates’ viewpoints, and ABC says that its show meets the requirements as a “bona fide news interview program.”
The comments, by and large, seem to suggest Americans want the government’s hands off the popular daytime program. The number of comments more than doubled from around 18,000 on Tuesday to more than 40,000 Wednesday. The public comment period ends July 6.
[. . .]“Where there’s too many candidates, there’s never enough time,” Ashkhen Kazaryan, senior legal fellow at the Future of Free Speech, told NOTUS. “The chilling effect would be on the shows themselves, because they will think twice before booking candidates.”
Kazaryan said many media companies will opt to “self-preserve” rather than enter costly legal battles, meaning the FCC merely “threatening this regulation” effectively suppresses free speech.
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Ashkhen Kazaryan is a Senior Legal Fellow at The Future of Free Speech, where she leads initiatives to protect free expression and shape policies that uphold the First Amendment in the digital age.