Opinion ID: 425077
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applying the Standards to the Facts of This Case

Text: 31 The Commission assumed the validity of the DNC allegations that the RNC advertisements, coupled with existing programming imbalances, created a frequency-of-presentation ratio in which pro-Administration views enjoyed an advantage of approximately three to one on CBS and four to one on NBC. 4 Opinion at 13, JA 184. The Commission found, however, that [s]uch an imbalance could hardly be considered a 'glaring' disparity requiring investigation. Id. This finding was based in part on precedent. In response to DNC's emphasis on the extent of the disparity between pro- and anti-Reagan Administration programming in terms of the amount of time afforded each side, the Commission noted that it had found roughly similar disparities to be acceptable. See id. at 13 n. 24, JA 184, citing Great Western Broadcasting Corp. (Broadcast Bureau 1980). With respect to the size of the viewing audience during the various broadcasts, the Commission observed that DNC presented no evidence suggesting that the sizes of the audiences viewing pro-Administration programming versus anti-Administration programming were not comparable. Id. at 13, JA 184. We find that these considerations reasonably support the Commission's conclusion. None of DNC's several arguments persuades us to reverse or remand, although, as we note below, there are dicta in the Commission's order that we specifically disapprove. 32 DNC maintains that the Commission's decision is erroneous because the Commission equated mere exposure with balance, improperly suggesting that the public's receipt of any information on a viewpoint,    no matter how great the overall imbalance of coverage on it, is sufficient to preclude a finding of imbalance. Brief for petitioners at 21-22. This description mischaracterizes the analysis set forth in the Commission's Memorandum Opinion and Order. The Commission did not in its opinion refer to any new exposure standard for evaluating fairness doctrine complaints, but instead followed established guidelines, inquiring not only whether the targeted networks' programming had left the public uninformed but also whether the programming had been unreasonably imbalanced. Opinion at 12-13, JA 183-184. Behind DNC's argument is an implicit attempt to have this court erect an equal time standard under which compliance with the fairness doctrine would be determined by reference to rough approximations of equality rather than by reference to broadcaster good faith and reasonableness. But the fairness doctrine is distinct from the statutory requirement of the Communications Act that equal time be allotted to all qualified candidates for public office. See 47 U.S.C. Sec. 315(a) (1976). Whereas the equal time provision requires, as its name implies, rigorous equality in application, the fairness doctrine nowhere requires equality but only reasonableness. Democratic Nat'l Committee v. FCC, 460 F.2d 891, 905 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 843, 93 S.Ct. 42, 34 L.Ed.2d 82 (1972). See also Kennedy for President Committee v. FCC, supra, 636 F.2d at 452-453. Reasonableness was the guidepost that the Commission correctly used in reaching its decision regarding DNC's complaint. 33 DNC also maintains that the Commission's decision is erroneous because the Commission improperly restricted its analysis of the reasonableness of the networks' programming imbalance to an examination of total time ratios. Brief for petitioners at 40-43. This charge is inaccurate. The Commission specifically noted that the size of the viewing audience during broadcasts is a factor to consider in determining whether licensees have afforded a reasonable opportunity for presentation of contrasting viewpoints. Opinion at 12, JA 183. But the Commission observed that DNC had presented no evidence that the sizes of the viewing audiences during the various broadcasts were not comparable. Id. at 12-13, JA 183-184 (footnote omitted). Similarly, DNC failed to present evidence indicating the frequency with which RNC advertisements and other relevant programming were aired. The Commission, then, did not restrict its analysis of the reasonableness of the networks' presentation of contrasting views; rather, DNC restricted the Commission's analysis by failing to present evidence important to building its prima facie case. 34 Finally, DNC asserts that the Commission's denial of its fairness doctrine complaint is erroneous because the Commission failed to recognize that the messages propounded by the RNC advertisements cannot adequately be balanced merely by presentation of contrasting viewpoints in news programming. In petitioners' words: DNC does not believe that the Fairness Doctrine obligations arising from the running of 30-second, high-impact commercial advertising on 'a regular continual basis' can normally be discharged    by presentation of opposing views on news programs, even where they are presented in a manner favoring the opposing viewpoints. Brief for petitioners at 36. However, neither the Commission nor the courts have established petitioners' belief as law. To the contrary, both have emphasized, time and again, the wide discretion available to licensees in determining how to fulfill their fairness doctrine obligations, including the option of offsetting the messages of advertisements by public service messages or news accounts or other modes of presentation in a licensee's overall programming. See, e.g., Friends of the Earth v. FCC, 449 F.2d 1164, 1170 (D.C.Cir.1971); California Against Initiative Fraud, 78 FCC2d 469, 471-472 (Broadcast Bureau 1980). See also Fairness Report, supra, 48 FCC2d at 16.