Blunt Sides With Religious Broadcasters in FCC Ruling

"The FCC has gone too far in attempting to dictate the content of any broadcast station.  This is a slap in the face to religious broadcasters and people with deep religious convictions," Blunt said.  In the meantime, the FCC is being deluged with calls, inquiries and complaints about their attack on religious broadcasters. 

Blunt is co-sponsoring the legislation to overturn the initial FCC decision with Ohio Congressman Michael Oxley.  The legislation would also require the FCC to follow the normal "public comment" and rule making process if it wants to pursue defining educational and religious broadcasts.  "It is my hope the FCC will not pursue this course," Blunt said, "but would simply drop this ill-conceived plan."

In late December the FCC issued a ruling in a Pennsylvania case where a religious broadcaster with a commercial license was trying to purchase a non-commercial educational television station.  As part of the Paxson television case, and for the first time, the FCC defined educational programming to exclude broadcasts of church services or where the purpose of the broadcast was proselytizing.   Specifically the ruling said that educational programming must not be "primarily devoted to religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally-held religious views and beliefs." 

The case impacts almost 100 educational television stations, where the primary content is religious ministry work.  On stations with educational licenses, who face license renewal, religious programming content that does not meet the new FCC definition would have to be reduced to less than half.  At least 15 television stations will be impacted by the new standards and as many as 95 could be.  Non-commercial religious radio stations fall under a separate ruling and are not immediately affected.