Evening star., 1944-05-26
Free Speech Fight
Seen ON Radio Bill
Wheeler Measure Would Ban
Sponsored Commentators

Wheeler Measure Would Ban
Sponsored Commentators
By Dapid Laurence.
An effort Is to be made by legislation
to bar news commentators from radie
programs that are sponsored BY ID.
vertisers.
1.-The compromise bill to be offered in
the Senate by Senator Wheeler, Demo-
crat, Of Montana, chairman of the SEN
ate Committee on Interstate Commerce,
contains such taboo. II 1t Is adopted.
1t is almost certain to run into consti-
tutional dificulties. For II the Con-
gress has the right to say that express
sions Of opinion on current subjects by
commentators may not be transmitted
in time paid for by advertisers, then
the Congress has the same right to de-
clare that advertising In the newspapers
or periodicals shall not contain ex-
pressions Of opinion on current subjects.
Senator Wheeler, who has devoted q
good deal Of time to the problem, has
conscientiously come to the conclusion
that the ban on radio commentators on
commercial programs Is necessary. He
does not believe that there are any
constitutional barriers because he feels
that radio communications is based
upon the system Of licenses which in
turn is Government privilege.
Frankfurter's Opinion.
n ,yf f,,
Court decision last year. declared that
the power to issue licenses was the
power to regulate the Composition of
traffic" over the air. He insisted that
no issue of freedom of speech was in
volved In his decision, but his opinion
is being used nevertheless as a prece-
dent-as basis for the new legislation
whereby news commentators are to be
barred from the air if they happen to
appear on programs sponsored by ad-
vertisers.
1t is not contended that the news
broadcasts themselves contain any ad-
vertising for commercial sponsors, nor
have there been any instances cited in
which the views of the advertiser have
been fused into the news broadcasts.
There may have been abuses Of this
kind, but In the main, the broadcastine.
companies or booking agencies have
furnished the commentators to the COM
mercial sponsors on the basis of the
popularity Of the broadcasters. In some
instances the advertisers have developed
new commentators believing that big
audiences of listeners would be cult
waited so that the advertising matter
would be listened to by q larger and
larger number of persons.
The proponents of the idea Of BAN
ming news broadcasters from sponsored
programs insist that very little care in
many Instances is exercised in selecting
broadcasters, and that anybody can get
on commercially sponsored programs
these days whether or not he has news
training. All this may be true, but the
way to settle it is not by legislation. It
may well be argued that the printed
press, too, errs at times in its selection
Of writer's or editors. The American
people have learned that under q free
press. however, it is better to leave such
matters to the publications themselves
rather than to any governmental agency.
Unfortunate background. ~
The whole episode has an unfortunate
background because some .of the radio
commentators have gotten into ccontro-
versies with members OF Congress. stili
1t will be a sorry day in American his
tory If the powers of Congress can be
used to retaliate against those who have
criticized Congress, or governmental
policies. az
The Bill of Rights provides that Con-
gress shall make no law abridging free
dom OF speech To speak over the radio
is, therefore, right granted by the
Constitution. 1t doesn't matter what
method is used-whether an auditorium
or radio-the right to freedom Of ex-
preston remains unchanged no matter
what the medium.
The proponents of the ban hold that
because Government issues the licenses.
the Government, therefore, possesses
the right to stipulate who shall or shall
~ASs NV VIZ W6fC SCAStklS. SIl&lll6liY,
when Congress legislated on the matter
of radio, it was thought that Federal
commission was established simply to
regulate the trafic so that there would
be no collisions as between wave lengths.
Many people believed then that the
whole idea was to regulate the traffc
very much as the Government regulates
transportation OF the mails, prescribing
rates and packaging rules for the use of
such instrumentalities.
At no time has it been seriously con-
tended that because the second-class
postal privileges, for example, is granted
by the Government itself, Congress
could write a law specifying who should
or should not edit the periodicals that
are the beneficiaries of second-class
rights. But ever since the Frankfurter
decision, there has been doubt as to
what can or cannot be done now under
the Constitution where a Government
grant or privilege is involved. 1t would
seem certain that if the proposed
amendment to the radio law is enacted,
constitutional controversy of major
proportions will develop.
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