December Regulatory Dates For Broadcasters
While the holidays may be upon us, there is no rest in the broadcast regulatory world. Dec. 1 brings routine EEO public file report obligations for radio and television station employment units with five or more fulltime employees for stations in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont.
President Trump on Sunday blasted CBS’s 60 Minutes over an evening report about his administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southern border.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Bill Shine got $8.4 million in severance pay from 21st Century Fox after he left in May 2017. He’ll also receive bonus and options payments in 2018 and 2019 amounting to $7 million for the two years combined. The agreement is set to expire May 1, 2019.
As expected, the FCC on Dec. 12 will officially launch its latest congressionally mandated “Quadrennial” review of broadcast ownership rules. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai did the unveiling Tuesday in his monthly blog post on the items the FCC plans to vote on at its next public meeting, which he does when the tentative agenda is released 21 days before the meeting.
Exclusives
NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd on Tuesday criticized the White House’s new rules for reporters at presidential news conferences, calling them “absurd” and predicting that journalists won’t follow them.
The White House on Monday abruptly dropped its effort to bar CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House. However, it said going forward, reporters would be permitted one question each if called upon at news conferences and allowed follow-ups only at the discretion of the president. CNN said that, as a result, it has dropped its lawsuit against the White House filed on Acosta’s behalf.
A federal appeals court cleared the way for Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks to pursue civil rights suits against two of the nation’s biggest cable operators, Charter Communications and Comcast. These lawsuits seek sizable damages — $20 billion against Comcast and $10 billion against Charter — for alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act.
After a federal judge ordered that CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials be temporarily restored last week, the White House sent Acosta a letter saying it had made the “preliminary decision” to suspend his pass. The White House said Acosta would continue to hold his credentials while the 14-day judge’s order was in effect. CNN sought an emergency hearing, saying in a Monday court filing that the administration was creating “retroactive due process.”
Donald Trump Promises Fox News He Will Toss CNN’s Jim Acosta From Future Pressers If He ‘Misbehaves’
A federal judge temporarily restored Jim Acosta’s White House press credentials, but didn’t rule on the CNN correspondent’s First Amendment claims.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, announced his decision following a hearing. The judge said Acosta’s credentials would be returned immediately and reactivated to allow him access to the White House. The suit by CNN alleges that Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated by suspending his hard pass. While the judge didn’t rule on the underlying case, he signaled they were likely to prevail in their claims.
Judge Timothy Kelly was set to bring everyone back into DC District Court on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET to announce his decision, one day after CNN and the DOJ spent two hours pitching their side to the judge. Now it’s been put off until 10 a.m. on Friday.
FCC chair Ajit Pai says he has every intention of staying atop the FCC at least through the end of the president’s first term. That came in a press conference following the FCC’s monthly meeting Thursday.
The U.S. government is investigating whether Snap Inc. manipulated its $3.4 billion initial public offering. Snapchat’s parent company revealed Wednesday that the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have subpoenaed the company about potentially misleading claims it made in its March 2017 filing.
WKBN Anchor Arrested For Child Endangerment
President Donald Trump’s re-election committee is using CNN’s lawsuit against it to rally his base, emailing the latest in a long line of “Media Accountability Surveys” to the list of his supporters with attacks on the media as biased, fake and against hard-working Americans.
Lawyers suing President Donald Trump over his decision to end special protections shielding certain immigrants from deportation have issued subpoenas to MGM Holdings Inc. and Trump Productions LLC demanding any footage shot during the production of the show in which Trump “uses racial and/or ethnic slurs” or “makes remarks concerning race, nationality and/or ethnic background.”
In a legal filing ahead of a Wednesday hearing on CNN’s request for a temporary restraining order to restore Acosta’s access, the government argues it “was lawful” to punish Acosta for his behavior during a contentious Trump press conference last week.
CNN’s lawsuit against President Trump and several top aides is specifically about Jim Acosta’s access to the White House, but the case could have repercussions far beyond CNN. “This is a very, very important case,” said famed lawyer Ted Olson, who is representing CNN. It was Acosta whose press pass was suspended this time, but “this could happen to any journalist by any politician,” Olson said. The judge assigned to the case has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Here’s everything you should know about CNN v. Trump.
Nexstar, WTNH Sued For Discrimination
The former human resources manager at ABC affiliate WTNH New Haven, Conn., has sued the station and its parent company, Nexstar Media Group, claiming gender and age discrimination and alleging that the station’s general manager made “sexist comments regarding young females.”
Politico Pro is reporting that President Trump on Tuesday needled FCC Chairman Ajit Pai over “one decision” he didn’t like, an apparent reference to Pai’s move to doom the Sinclair-Tribune merger. Trump made the comment during a White House Diwali ceremony as he introduced Pai and turned to shake his hand. “I just didn’t like one decision he made, but that’s alright,” Trump said to laughs. “Not even a little bit. But he’s independent.” Politico Pro subscribers can read the full story here.
The Department of Justice has informed five ad holding companies that it is no longer investigating any of their subsidiaries as part of a probe into commercial production practices and possible bid-rigging that began in 2016. Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, WPP and MDC Partners all confirmed the DOJ has notified them that the investigation has concluded with regard to any and all of their respective entities. No action has been taken against the firms or their employees.
The Justice Department has settled with six TV station groups over what DOJ said was the “unlawful sharing of competitively sensitive” information on advertising that disrupted “the normal competitive process of spot advertising in markets across the United States.” The six: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Raycom Media, Tribune Media, Meredith Corp., Griffin Communications and Dreamcatcher Broadcasting.
CNN has sued the White House for pulling Jim Acosta’s press credentials. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., District Court. CNN claims the revocation of Acosta’s press pass violates the constitutional rights to freedom on the press and due process. CNN is asking for an immediate restraining order to return Acosta to the White House.
President Trump on Monday took aim at Comcast after a Fox Business Network article suggested the Department of Justice could investigate the cable giant for violating antitrust laws.
