The Public Interest Standard in Television Broadcasting (Jimmy Kimmel firing)

… As the foregoing history suggests, the fundamental legal framework that governs the broadcast industry sets it apart from other media. In broadcasting, the Federal Government grants exclusive free speech rights to licensees, while denying such freedom to others. To justify this privileged treatment, Congress and the courts have mandated that licensees serve as “public trustees” of the airwaves. The public trustee model has given rise to a distinct genre of First Amendment jurisprudence. Unlike newspapers and magazines, broadcasters have affirmative statutory and regulatory obligations to serve the public in specific ways. Despite the philosophical complications and political tensions that...