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Regulating of Broadcasting Media

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in charge of regulating the American broadcasting media such as radio and television. One thing that the FCC seeks to insure is that the First Amendment rights to free speech of broadcasters do not impinge upon the Fourth Amendment rights to privacy of individual citizens. In this regard, it may be noted that radio and television broadcasters do not have the same freedom of speech that newspapers and the other print media have. From the very beginnings of commercial radio broadcasting at the turn of the twentieth century, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that there are inherent differences between the broadcasting and print media. In particular, it has been argued that "whereas newspapers and magazines were attempting serious discussion of the news, the medicine men and entertainers of radio, by contrast, were aiming to alleviate the boredom of the public and exploit its naivete" (Powe 12). Because of this opinion, broadcasting has never been given the same level of freedom which is enjoyed by the press. Although freedom of the press is explicitly provided in the Constitution's First Amendment, the federal government has taken upon itself the task of regulating the broadcast media in order to help protect the rights to privacy of the American people. This discrepancy has been caused by the view that broadcasting, as a new, electronic medium, is somehow more potentially intrusive into the private lives of individuals than the press is.

The right to privacy is not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. Nevertheless, it is implied in the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights in which American citizens are given freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. This amendment has been interpreted as protecting the individual not only from search and seizure by government officials, but also from invasions of privacy by other members of society as well. Howeve...

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Regulating of Broadcasting Media. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:56, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1702565.html