The latest flap over broadcasters' public interest obligations in the digital age has given the industry a double dose of déjà vu. Earlier this month, the National Association of Broadcasters negotiated a new TV ratings system to please lawmakers and parents groups - for the second time this year.
Now, also for the second time this year, the association is railing against the expected appointment of an industry nemesis waiting in the wings to join the White House's advisory commission on public-service requirements under the new digital licenses.
This spring, the Clinton administration appeared to bow to industry pressure when it chose not to nominate former FCC chairman Newton "Vast Wasteland" Minow to chair the commission. He was the Number One pick until the broadcasters' association cried foul. But now, the administration has chosen someone likely to make the broadcasters start talking about the good old days when they could have had Minow on the panel.
To serve as co-chair of the committee, the administration has chosen Norman Ornstein. He's a high-profile political analyst who, like Minow, has been on a crusade to force broadcasters to give political candidates free air time as a part of national campaign-finance reform. Broadcasters, who rake in lots of mud-laden dough from commercials during the political season, don't like the idea of sacrificing millions of dollars of campaign loot.
The broadcasters are particularly incensed by Ornstein's role last week in the launch of a League of Women Voters campaign to get Congress to act on campaign reform. The centerpiece of the drive is a document that Ornstein helped write called "Five Ideas for Practical Campaign Reform." One of the ideas is free TV time for federal candidates.
Under the proposal, broadcasters would be required to contribute air time to a "political time bank" that would distribute vouchers to major political parties. Party bosses would decide which candidates and races needed the most free air time and distribute it accordingly.
"Why the announced co-chair of an ostensibly unbiased public body would continue in, and even expand his activist political role on the very issue under study is difficult to fathom," the broadcasters' association said in a letter to Vice President Al Gore, whose office is coordinating the panel. "Certainly, Mr. Ornstein's actions make clear that he has no intention of restraining his own bias."
In asking the White House to replace Ornstein with someone of "fairness, objectivity, and integrity," the association recalled its past opposition to Minow, whose "public statements on the political free air time issue pale in comparison to Mr. Ornstein's extreme approach."
The NAB's letter doesn't appear to be changing any minds, though. Roger Salazar, Gore's assistant press secretary, said Thursday that there are no plans to ask Ornstein to step down.
"The advisory commission is going to be a balanced panel," he said, noting the appointment of Leslie Moonves, president of the entertainment division of CBS, as commission co-chair. That Ornstein already has a viewpoint on free air time shouldn't matter, Salazar said: "They're all going to come to this thing with their own opinions."
Ornstein was out of the country and unavailable for comment on the matter.
