Good news. The Federal Communications Commission has reversed itself and withdrawn a Dec. 29 censorship edict directed against religious broadcasters.
In the Jan. 24 WEEKLY STANDARD, Justin Torres reported on an "additional guidance" buried in FCC Order 99-393. That guidance made educational broadcast licenses contingent on the willingness of stations to purge from most of their programming any "religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally-held religious views or beliefs." Ninety-five religious broadcasters around the country were affected; the guidance would have gutted their programming schedules -- and threatened their continued existence.
On Jan. 28, in response to an unexpected outpouring of protest, the FCC's governing commissioners, by a four-to-one vote, decided to "vacate our additional guidance" in this area. "It has become clear," the majority of commissioners wrote, "that our actions have created less certainty rather than more, contrary to our intent." Weasel words, but welcome just the same. Dissenting, pro-censorship commissioner Gloria Tristani was rather more candid in defeat: "This is a sad and shameful day for the FCC. . . . This supposedly independent agency" -- independent of the First Amendment? -- "has capitulated to an organized campaign of distortion and demagoguery."
On behalf of our contributor Justin Torres, THE SCRAPBOOK thanks Ms. Tristani for the acknowledgment.