The Radio and Television News Director’s Association (RTNDA) argues the FCC is overstepping its boundaries, coming close to exercising government censorship by fining broadcasters who use VNRs without source attribution.
“The heart of this matter really is the FCC’s outright intrusion into the newsroom,” says RTNDA president Barbara Cochran. “Congress, the Supreme Court—even the FCC itself—have all determined that the government does not get to make editorial decisions better left to the free and independent journalists.”
RTNDA, along with 70 other news organizations, is asking the FCC to rescind the $20,000 fine it imposed on Comcast’s regional news channel CN8 for using unattributed VNR footage it picked up from the CNN Newsource service, arguing the FCC is violating journalists’ first ammendment rights.