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July 8, 2000

SECTION: LOBBYING; Pg. 2241; Vol. 32, No. 28

LENGTH: 1074 words

HEADLINE: Static Over the Religious Right

BYLINE: Shawn Zeller

BODY:

Thanks to aggressive lobbying and a grass-roots crusade spirited
by the Christian Right, religious broadcasters are poised for a
victory that would allow them to continue airing only church-
related programming on hundreds of public- radio and public-
television stations.

In late June, the House passed legislation that would
prevent the Federal Communications Commission from issuing rules
that would require religious groups seeking a free, noncommercial
license to devote half their programming to educational,
cultural, and instructional programs. The bill would forbid the
FCC from regulating the content of public radio and TV and make
religious programming an acceptable format for those seeking a
broadcast license. A similar Senate bill is pending.

The issue arose last year when Cornerstone TeleVision, a
Wall, Pa.-based religious broadcasting company, petitioned the
FCC for a license to purchase an educational TV station in
Pittsburgh and change its format to religious programming. Last
December, the FCC approved the sale. But under pressure from
public-interest advocates and community groups, the FCC also
ruled that educational stations must not be "primarily devoted to
religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally
held religious views and beliefs."

Following an avalanche of protests from religious
broadcasters and Christian conservatives, the commission
rescinded the regulations in late January.

Despite the FCC's change of heart, the American Family
Association, the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for
America, the Family Research Council, and the National Religious
Broadcasters have continued to push for a legislative fix.
Cornerstone TeleVision turned to Andrew L. Woods and Kathryn R.
Schmeltzer of Shaw Pittman for help. "The intent of the
legislation is to make sure programming decisions are made by the
broadcaster, not some bureaucrat at the FCC," said Karl Stoll,
spokesman for the National Religious Broadcasters.

In the 1970s, the commission rejected a petition brought
by community-broadcasting icon Lorenzo Milam that would have
prevented religious organizations from owning a radio station.
After the Milam ruling, the FCC did not address religious
broadcasting again until releasing its Cornerstone decision.

Patrick Trueman, the head of the AFA's Washington office,
said the group has educational broadcast licenses for 184 radio
stations that offer "almost wholly religious broadcasting." The
December regulations would have required the association, a
Tupelo, Miss.-based family values organization, to radically
alter its programming, he added.
The broadcasters relied on the reach of their stations to
rally grass-roots support for the House bill. National Religious
Broadcasters members, including the AFA and Cornerstone,
broadcast appeals to viewers and listeners asking them to contact
their representatives in Washington.

Both Beverly LaHaye, the chairwoman of Concerned Women
for America, a Christian conservative organization, and Janet
Parshall, the spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, a
leading social conservative organization, also used their radio
programs to spread the word. Reps. Charles "Chip" Pickering, R-
Miss., and W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., two sponsors of the
legislation, appeared on the AFA radio network to promote the
bill.

Their lobbying efforts helped produce the victory in the
House, which voted 264-159 for the bill, with 56 Democrats and
one independent joining 208 Republicans. An amendment offered by
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., that would have left the door
ajar for FCC regulation of the religious broadcasters was
defeated.

Because the Senate bill may not reach the floor,
Pickering may attempt to attach the bill to other, must-pass
legislation.

A growing coalition of liberal organizations that
supported the FCC's original plan to prevent religious
organizations from owning educational stations is working to kill
the House-passed bill. Organized by Jerold M. Starr, the
executive director of Citizens for Independent Public
Broadcasting, the coalition includes prominent organizations such
as the National Education Association and People For the American
Way.

According to Starr, the legislation would "bring about an
end to public broadcasting as we know it. It would open the door
so you could have hate groups and commercial fronts running
stations. It amounts to total deregulation."

Conservative religious groups have turned to the radio
airwaves more aggressively than have other interest groups. A
study of the pending applications for the educational licenses
shows that conservative Christians are among the most active
filers, said its author, Washington lawyer John Crigler, a
partner with the law firm of Garvey, Schubert & Barer, who
represents some public radio stations.

At least 19 of the top 25 applicants for educational
licenses are Christian radio networks. The No. 1 filer is the
American Family Association, which has 179 applications pending.
"We've been seeing a flood" of applications from Christian radio
networks "since the Reagan Administration," Starr said.

Until last year, the FCC had not attempted to regulate
the broadcast content of religious stations.

Starr said his group opposed the Cornerstone petition at
the FCC because of the station's programming. Educational
programming serves the needs of the entire community, he
explained, but Cornerstone talk-show host Bob Enyart regularly
assails homosexuals. Other programs have attacked Catholics,
Hindus, Mormons, and other religions, he said.

Even if the legislation is passed, another battle looms
for the religious broadcasters. Since 1994, the FCC has failed to
approve any license for which there were competing applicants. In
April, the commission devised a plan to decide between two or
more applicants. It intends to give points to applicants based on
several factors, including their proximity to the broadcast
region and their technical expertise. The plan also penalizes
large broadcasting companies. The applicant with the most points
wins the license.

LOAD-DATE: July 10, 2000

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