It's Time to Trump the Equal Time Rule

[Commentary] The Equal Time Rule says that broadcasters must provide equal time to all qualified candidates for federal office. If a candidate appears for five minutes on TV or radio, then his or her rival candidates are entitled to five minutes — equal time. Over the years, a number of exceptions have been appended to the rule, which is why it isn't invoked very often. Appearances by candidates in newscasts, debates, interview shows and other bona fide news happenings do not trigger the equal time obligation. It really only comes up when a TV and movie star gets the political itch. Because of the rule, for Trump to run, he would have to give up Apprentice next season. This is something that neither he as a producer of the show nor NBC wants to do. The show is one of few winners on the NBC schedule. If Trump is serious, he would probably give up the show anyhow. But Trump shouldn't have to quit the show because of Equal Time. The rule is a creaky vestige of the 1930s when politicians were scared to death of the powerful medium of AM radio and were looking for ways to box it in. Congress should repeal it, or some court should strike it down on First Amendment grounds.

Whenever equal time comes up, reporters dutifully explain that it is not to be confused with the Fairness Doctrine, an FCC rule that said that broadcasters must cover all sides of important public issues. The FCC abolished that rule in 1987, arguing that it was an affront to the First Amendment rights of broadcasters and that it was counterproductive, discouraging rather than encouraging a vigorous discussion of issues on the airwaves. But from a First Amendment perspective, the Equal Time Rule is very much like the Fairness Doctrine. It strips away broadcasters’ editorial discretion, forcing them to take people off the air they would rather not and putting people on the air they otherwise might not. And it’s discriminatory. It applies only to broadcasters.