ABC tells the government to get out of its newsrooms

ABC 要求政府远离其新闻编辑室

ABC is firing back at the Federal Communications Commission after the agency opened an investigation into The View’s airtime of political candidates. In a letter to the FCC on Tuesday, ABC argues that the agency’s actions pose a risk to editorial independence by targeting programs “perceived as unfriendly to the current administration,” as reported earlier by The Wrap.

在联邦通信委员会（FCC）对《观点》（The View）节目中政治候选人的播出时长展开调查后，ABC 进行了回击。据《The Wrap》早先报道，ABC 在周二致 FCC 的一封信中指出，该机构的行为通过针对那些“被认为对现任政府不友好”的节目，对编辑独立性构成了威胁。

In February, the FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed that he’s reexamining The View’s classification as a “bona fide” news program after the talk show held an interview with Rep. James Talarico (D-TX), who is running for a spot in the Senate. The View’s classification exempts it from the “equal time rule,” which requires broadcasters to give candidates running for the same office equal air time on the network.

今年 2 月，FCC 主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）证实，在《观点》节目采访了正在竞选参议员席位的众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科（James Talarico，民主党籍，德克萨斯州）后，他正在重新审查该节目作为“真实”新闻节目的分类。《观点》的这一分类使其免受“平等时间规则”（equal time rule）的约束，该规则要求广播公司为竞选同一职位的候选人提供平等的播出时间。

“The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair,” ABC writes in response to the February investigation. “Yet that is the seat the Commission now proposes to take — deciding which broadcast programs qualify as legitimate news and, for those it finds wanting, compelling them to surrender their airtime to guests they never chose to feature.”

“第一修正案不允许政府坐在编辑的椅子上，”ABC 在回应 2 月份的调查时写道。“然而，这正是委员会现在打算占据的位置——决定哪些广播节目有资格成为合法新闻，并对于那些它认为不合格的节目，强迫它们将播出时间让给它们从未选择邀请的嘉宾。”

The FCC initially determined that The View is a bona fide news program in 2002. ABC argues that while The View hasn’t changed since then, the “political climate around it” has. “The Commission has trained its attention on daytime and late-night television,” ABC says. Former Late Show host Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked him from airing an interview with Rep. Talarico in February due to concerns surrounding the FCC’s changing policies. Meanwhile, Semafor reports that The View has avoided hosting political candidates since the FCC’s inquiry.

FCC 最初于 2002 年认定《观点》为真实新闻节目。ABC 辩称，虽然《观点》自那时起没有改变，但其“周围的政治气候”已经变了。“委员会已将注意力集中在日间和深夜电视节目上，”ABC 表示。前《深夜秀》（Late Show）主持人斯蒂芬·科尔伯特（Stephen Colbert）称，由于担心 FCC 不断变化的政策，CBS 在 2 月份阻止了他播出对塔拉里科众议员的采访。与此同时，Semafor 报道称，自 FCC 展开调查以来，《观点》已避免邀请政治候选人参加节目。

“An exemption that protects editorial independence only when the speaker’s politics please those in power protects nothing at all; the shelter it gives one program today it will deny another tomorrow, when the gavel changes hands — as it inevitably will,” ABC says.

“如果一项豁免权只有在发言者的政治立场取悦当权者时才能保护编辑独立性，那么它根本就起不到任何保护作用；它今天为某个节目提供的庇护，明天当权力更迭时——这是不可避免的——就会被拒绝给另一个节目，”ABC 说道。

In April, the FCC ordered ABC stations owned by Disney to file for an early license renewal in April as part of an investigation into the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusivity policies, raising concerns about the agency’s interference with the content aired by broadcasters.

今年 4 月，作为对该公司多元化、公平和包容性政策调查的一部分，FCC 命令迪士尼旗下的 ABC 电视台提前申请执照续期，这引发了人们对该机构干预广播公司播出内容的担忧。