No Prime Time for Ford

Broadcasters have rarely questioned the right of a Chief Executive to request access to the audience of 20 million Americans who watch television on any given evening. But last week the two leading networks turned down a request by the White House for live coverage of President Ford's 20-minute prime-time address on tax and spending policy. While ABC agreed to the request--which came on three hours' notice--CBS and NBC both said no. They observed that because the President is a declared candidate for reelection, they could be required under the Communications Act to furnish equal time to other candidates seeking the Republican nomination. CBS News President Richard Salant explained that his network would be willing to accept the risks created by the equal-time rule only "in circumstances of national emergencies or urgent presidential announcements." An NBC spokesman said that his network believed that only presidential speeches dealing with "international events affecting the national security" could be broadcast without equal-time liabilities.

But were the two networks being a bit disingenuous? "As CBS and NBC know," said White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen, "the FCC exempts from so-called equal-time regulations on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events." Although the President's speech certainly had political impact (see page 19), it was nevertheless a significant public event. Possibly the networks were trying to underscore their distaste for the equal-time rule by drawing attention to the fact that airing an address as newsworthy as the President's poses risks for broadcasters. In opposing the rule, the networks may well have a valid point, but blacking out the President seems to be a particularly extreme way to make it.

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