EXPLAIN WHY RADIO AND TELEVISION DO NOT HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AND
FREEDOMS AS THE PRINT MEDIA. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS? WHY?

Hello--

I have the answers to your questions.

Radio and television do not have the same rights and freedoms as the
print media because of the technology involved. The Federal
Communications Commission was formed to regulate the broadcast
industries. There is no similar commission to regulate the print
media. The FCC was originally created to license individuals who could
work in the media and to make sure broadcast stations in the same
regions did not operate on the same frequencies. It is my opinion that
this use of the FCC is valid. But the FCC overstepped its bounds when
it decided to regulate how many broadcast stations a company can own
simultaneously and by regulating equal time provisions and programming
rules for radio and television stations.

You may read about the Federal Communications Commission at the
agency's web site. The link is http://www.fcc.gov/

You may read about efforts to reform the FCC at the company's web
site. The link is http://www.fcc.gov/fcc_reform/

You may read about the FCC's ability to regulate broadband
capabilities. The link is http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/

You may read about the FCC's reexamination of its media ownership
policies. The link is http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/

I hope this helps!

darrel-ga

Part of the rationale for the regulation of the broadcast media is
that they come into the home, whether or not they are "invited". This
explains in part why cable companies have long been able to broadcast
material that would not be allowed on broadcast television - cable
shows only reach the members of your household if you choose to
subscribe to them. Another part of the rationale is "spectrum
scarcity" -  only so many television stations can be broadcast,
whereas a community can at least in theory enjoy an unlimited number
of newspapers. Due to technological advancement, spectrum scarcity is
much less an issue today than it was when broadcast technologies were
first introduced.

A key factor that has not been mentioned -- and the main reason that
First Amendment protections are not fully honored for broadcasters --
is that the space through which radio waves travel is considered to be
public property. Individuals and businesses may own the transmitters,
but the people (as represented by the federal government) own the
medium through which the radio waves travel.