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CIAO DATE: 3/00
The FCC's Squeeze on Religious Broadcasting
On The Issues
March 2000
The Federal Communications Commission recently promulgated a new policy for determining what may appear on noncommercial television stations. Most forms of religious programming will be restricted to not more than half of the content of any such station on the grounds that, according to the FCC, they do not serve educational and cultural needs. Religion is a large and vital part of our culture, however, and its place in noncommercial television should not be constrained by government edict.
Poor John McCain. He wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging it to take action, and it did. This was considered shocking since a McCain campaign contributor owned one of the TV stations whose purchase was OK'd by the FCC.
Think what you will of Mr. McCain's letter. The real scandal here is the policy that the FCC commissioners announced along with their approval. It will force some religious TV stations to water down their programming or risk their licenses.
The ruling arose in a case involving Cornerstone Television, a nonprofit religious broadcaster that has a license to operate a commercial channel near Pittsburgh. Cornerstone sought to swap that license for another, also in Pittsburgh, that is reserved for noncommercial educational purposes.
For some, that was a horrifying thought. A coalition of activist groups-the Alliance for Progressive Action-challenged the proposed deal, contending that Cornerstone's religious programming was not primarily educational. Indeed, the alliance submitted affidavits from professors calling Cornerstone's programming "highly ideological" and "extremist."
The New Decree
The commission allowed the swap but issued "additional guidance." It decreed, for the first time, that at least half of what appears on noncommercial TV stations must meet the FCC's definition of "educational, cultural, or instructional" programming. Religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personal religious belief-according to the FCC-do not meet the definition.
What effect will this ruling have? A profound one. Noncommercial educational stations-which are much cheaper to own than commercial stations because they can't carry ads-are often small, shoestring operations. Much of the fare on these stations (including Cornerstone) consists of sermons, church services, and shows in which people speak about the importance of religion to their lives. But, according to the FCC, such programs are neither educational nor cultural because they do not "serve the educational and cultural and broadcast needs of the entire community to which they are assigned."
To the FCC, such television stations must be "responsive to the overall public as opposed to the sway of particular political, economic, social, or religious interests." Leave aside that, in today's media marketplace, everyone is "narrowcasting." As FCC Commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Michael Powell asked in dissent: Why does the broadcast of an opera, which few Americans watch, serve the needs of the entire community while testimony about one's religious faith addresses only "particular," specialized interests?
Simple. To the FCC, religion is divisive-unless it is presented in a rationalist context devoid of emotion. Thus the commission says that programs analyzing the role of religion in history, current events, or art are "educational," as are shows exploring religious texts "from a historical or literary perspective." But if you actually believe the essence of a religion to be true-and the best guide to a moral life-it is not "educational" to teach it as such.
How the FCC will apply these rules is a mystery. Commissioner Susan Ness, who voted for the new policy, conceded that some sermons could count as "educational" while others would not. She raised-but couldn't answer-the question of whether a performance of Handel's "Messiah" would count as "educational" if performed at the Kennedy Center but not if performed in a church.
Writing Religion out of the Culture
As much as one would like to say otherwise, there is an antireligious bias at work here. By finding that certain religious programming is not "cultural," the FCC is writing religion out of the culture. Meanwhile, the commission approves of programming that examines "the apparent dichotomy between science, technology, and established religious tenets." Apparent dichotomy? Perhaps. But for more than a few distinguished thinkers, the scientific and religious viewpoints are converging. In short, it is possible to be a scientist and a believer at the same time, although the FCC would not seem to know it.
In the end, Cornerstone did get its license. But it may not be able to complete the swap unless it changes its programming. If it does, other religious broadcasters will be able to do nothing other than petition the agency to change its mind. Yet the FCC often ignores such petitions. Perhaps there should be an "educational" program on the foolishness of decisions like this.
AEI Associate Scholar Daniel E. Troy is a Washington lawyer whose firm represents the National Religious Broadcasters. A version of this article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 14, 2000 and is reprinted with permission.
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