I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 501 

To enforce the public interest obligations of broadcast station licensees to 

their local communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2005 

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. HOLT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 

RANGEL, Mr. OWENS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To enforce the public interest obligations of broadcast station 

licensees to their local communities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness and Account5 ability in Broadcasting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Communications Act of 1934 requires 

9 the Federal Communications Commission and broad-
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1 cast licensees to promote the ‘‘public interest,’’ a 

2 phrase that appears 40 times in the legislation. 

3 (2) Because broadcasters receive free licenses to 

4 use the public’s airwaves, estimated to be worth 

5 hundreds of billions of dollars, they have an obliga6 tion to uphold the public’s interest, and to ade7 quately inform the public about news and opinion. 

8 (3) From 1949 to 1987, a policy of the Federal 

9 Communications Commission (FCC) required that 

10 radio and television stations air all sides of impor11 tant or controversial issues, and give equal time to 

12 all candidates. 

13 (4) Since the rescission of the Fairness Doc14 trine, the country has experienced a proliferation of 

15 highly partisan networks, news outlets, and owner16 ship groups that disseminate unbalanced news cov17 erage and broadcast content. 

18 (5) News consumers, particularly those of talk 

19 radio, are overwhelmingly exposed to a single point 

20 of view. A 2004 survey by Democracy Radio revealed 

21 that 90 percent of all broadcast hours on talk radio 

22 are characterized as conservative. This imbalance re23 sults in issues of public importance receiving little or 

24 no attention, while others are presented in a manner 

25 not conducive to the listeners’ receiving the facts 
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1 and range of opinions necessary to make informed 

2 decisions. 

3 (6) The 2004 survey, done by Democracy 

4 Radio, found that there were 2,349 hours of local 

5 conservative programs broadcast every week versus 

6 555 hours of local progressive programs, and 39,382 

7 hours of national conservative programs broadcast 

8 every week versus 2,487 hours of national progres9 sive programs. 

10 (7) An April 2004 poll, conducted by Media 

11 Matters for America of likely voters shows over12 whelming support across the political and demo13 graphic spectrum for restoring rules requiring fair14 ness and balance on the public’s airwaves. When 

15 asked whether television and radio stations that use 

16 the public’s airwaves should be required to present 

17 the sides of an issue in a reasonably balanced way 

18 including giving time to opposing points of view. 

19 (8) Democracy is built on the concept that the 

20 views, beliefs, and values of an informed citizenry 

21 provide the best basis for political decision-making. 
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1 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST STAND2 ARDS. 

3 Section 309 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

4 U.S.C. 309) is amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(l) IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST STAND7 ARD.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this sub9 section are— 

10 ‘‘(A) to restore fairness in broadcasting; 

11 ‘‘(B) to ensure that broadcasters meet 

12 their public interest obligations; 

13 ‘‘(C) to promote diversity, localism, and 

14 competition in American media; and 

15 ‘‘(D) to ensure that all radio and television 

16 broadcasters— 

17 ‘‘(i) are accountable to the local com18 munities they are licensed to serve; 

19 ‘‘(ii) offer diverse views on issues of 

20 public importance, including local issues; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) provide regular opportunities for 

23 meaningful public dialogue among lis24 teners, viewers, station personnel, and li25 censees. 
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1 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC INTEREST DE2 TERMINATIONS.—The Commission may not issue or 

3 renew any license for a broadcasting station based 

4 upon a finding that the issuance or renewal serves 

5 the public interest, convenience, and necessity unless 

6 such station is in compliance with the requirements 

7 of this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(3) COVERAGE OF ISSUES OF PUBLIC IMPOR9 TANCE.—Each broadcast station licensee shall, con10 sistent with the purposes of this subsection, cover 

11 issues of importance to their local communities in a 

12 fair manner, taking into account the diverse inter13 ests and viewpoints in the local community. 

14 ‘‘(4) HEARINGS ON NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF

15 THE COMMUNITY.—Each broadcast station licensee 

16 shall hold two public hearings each year in its com17 munity of license during the term of each license to 

18 ascertain the needs and interests of the communities 

19 they are licensed to serve. One hearing shall take 

20 place two months prior to the date of application for 

21 license issuance or renewal. The licensee shall, on a 

22 timely basis, place transcripts of these hearings in 

23 the station’s public file, make such transcripts avail24 able via the Internet or other electronic means, and 

25 submit such transcripts to the Commission as a part 
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1 of any license renewal application. All interested in2 dividuals shall be afforded the opportunity to partici3 pate in such hearings. 

4 ‘‘(5) DOCUMENTATION OF ISSUE COVERAGE.— 

5 Each broadcast station licensee shall document and 

6 report in writing, on a biannual basis, to the Com7 mission, the programming that is broadcast to cover 

8 the issues of public importance ascertained by the li9 censee under paragraph (3) or otherwise, and on 

10 how such coverage reflects the diverse interests and 

11 viewpoints in the local community of such station. 

12 Such documents shall also be placed, on a timely 

13 basis, in the station’s public file and made available 

14 via the Internet or other electronic means. 

15 ‘‘(6) CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) PETITIONS TO DENY.—Any interested 

17 person may file a petition to deny a license re18 newal on the grounds of— 

19 ‘‘(i) the applicant’s failure to afford 

20 reasonable opportunities for presentation 

21 of opposing points of view on issues of 

22 public importance in its overall program23 ming, or the applicant’s non-compliance 

24 with the Commission’s programming rules 
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1 and policies relating to news staging and 

2 sponsorship identification; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the failure to hold hearings as 

4 required by paragraph (3); 

5 ‘‘(iii) the failure to ascertain the needs 

6 and interests of the community; or 

7 ‘‘(iv) the failure to document and re8 port on the manner in which fairness and 

9 diversity have been addressed in local pro10 gramming. 

11 ‘‘(B) COMMISSION REVIEW.—Any petition 

12 to deny filed under subparagraph (A) shall be 

13 reviewed by the Commission. If the Commission 

14 finds that the petition provides prima facie evi15 dence of a violation, the Commission shall con16 duct a hearing in the local community of license 

17 to further investigate the charges prior to re18 newing the license that is the subject of such 

19 petition. 

20 ‘‘(C) OTHER REMEDIES.—Nothing in this 

21 subsection shall preclude the Commission from 

22 imposing on a station licensee any other sanc23 tion available under this Act or in law for a 

24 failure to comply with the requirements of this 

25 subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(7) ANNUAL REPORT.— The Commission shall 

2 report annually to the Congress on petitions to deny 

3 received under this subsection, and on the Commis4 sion’s decisions regarding those petitions.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. TERM OF LICENSE. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 307(c)(1) of the Commu7 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1)) is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘8 years’’ each place it appears and inserting 

9 ‘‘4 years’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall be effective with respect to any license 

12 granted by the Federal Communications Commission after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act. 

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