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Frank StantonFrank Stanton
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Session:         Page of 755

Stanton:

You see, the FCC can't regulate what you say on your telephone line, but they can regulate where the line goes. Or what they charge for it. But they can't tell you you can't read the King James version of the Bible or “Captain Billy's Whiz Bang,” if you want to go to the other extreme. And the FCC has come right up against it in the case of [Howard] Stern on radio. This is the zone of serious problem for the future. I never wanted to make a test of the First Amendment for broadcasting at the Supreme Court, because I was afraid we'd lose. And if we lost, it would be one hell of a loss for all time.

I wanted to see broadcasting earn its spurs and be considered equal to the press under the First Amendment and never make a test of it. Because if you make that test too early, or if the conditions of the test are raw, it's just possible you'll lose--and then you've set the clock back for a long, long time. So I always said: “We'll push so far and say, ‘Boy, you can't attack us, for the First Amendment,’ but never make the test, because they just might win. And, in the meantime, conduct your business in a way there'll never be an issue over this, and you'll gradually be accepted as equals to the press.”

Because I knew also that the print media were going to become much more electronic. And they walk into the other door--of getting caught as being a broadcaster. So, anyway, the end of my lecture.

Q:

Well, thank you very much.

END OF SESSION #13





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