The National Association of Broadcasters' July issue of its
Licensed to Serve member newsletter
focuses on broadcaster political contributions -- not in dollars to candidates,
but contributions to the public through coverage of important political speech.
While top stations will have to start providing the FCC with
info on political ad dollars at the beginning of next month, NAB is focusing on
the political contributions broadcasters already make in the form of coverage
of campaigns.
NAB cites more than a dozen examples of broadcasters
sponsoring political debates, from the NBC News/Telemundo presidential partnership
to a Raycom station hosting a mayoral debate in Honolulu.
The newsletter is a way to showcase the kind of public
service commitment broadcasters argue cannot be measured by the amount of
bandwidth they occupy, a public interest standard that is not applied to the
wireless broadband players the FCC is promoting as the go-to data and video
delivery system of the future.
