Columbia Broadcasting System v. The Democratic National Committee - Is Ad Space/time Public?

Congress conferred considerable power on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in decisions involving the airwaves. The FCC's Fairness Doctrine is an important policy applied to issues connected with how much air time must be allotted to allow ample coverage of conflicting points of view. The Doctrine mandates that equal amounts of air time must be provided. It does not, however, force broadcasters to accept any and all advertising and/or editorial pieces.

Neither the FCC, the Communications Act, nor the First Amendment requires broadcasters to provide anyone and everyone access to the airwaves. As with newspaper content, the broadcaster has the right to manage the editorial content of the programming. Advertising and editorial pieces may be refused airtime provided that the duty is met to provide equal representation of controversial issues.