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Stories of interest, but nothing about the double dipping by Laura Seidman -- her potentially forged "glowing performance review in August of 2007" -- and her ousting in April?

Christ Pulp -- do the Seidmans have pictures of you fucking a farm animal or something?

For a supposedly hard-hitting journalist, you seem to have been neutered by these folks.

Cluck Cluck Cluck

One more point on the Finkelstein/WSVN item: The FCC's equal time provisions are only applicable to federal candidates. So, on top of the "broadcast news exception" cited by the station, the Public Defender is a state candidate and is thus not covered by the FCC's equal time rules.

"Playboy, the men's entertainment magazine, is offering her $25,000 a picture, she said"

She'll do it, that's probably close to a year's salary per photo.

The FCC's equal time provisions apply to the television station, not the particular candidate. It's the station that's governed by FCC rules, and the fact that it's not a federal election is meaningless except for the limited provisions of section 315(b)(2) of the statute.

There are no provisions about being grandfathered in; Fred Thompson was on Law and Order long before he ran for President, and NBC pulled all episodes in which he appeared. The law is quite specific, the newscaster exception doesn't apply here either.

Instead of pulling Howard off, they should allow equal time, and the candidates should do it for free. The candidates should not pay the station and the station should not pay them.

The FCC and equal time provisions apply to the television station, not the candidate or specific election. They apply to this case whether or not it is for a federal office. Only the limited provisions of section 315 (b)(2) of the statute are specifically delineated for federal races.

With regard to being "grandfathered in," there is no such exception. Indeed, Fred Thompson was on "Law and Order" long before he chose to run for President, but NBC still had to pull off those episodes in which he appeared. Also, the newscaster exception does not apply to the particular segment complained of here.

The station should leave Howard on but give the other candidate(s) equal time. The candidate(s) should not pay for the time, but they also should not be paid for their time. That way, the equal time rules are satisfied and if Howard really wants to do a public service, he can do it for free.

"Fred Thompson was on Law and Order long before he ran for President, and NBC pulled all episodes in which he appeared"

Because Thompson was a candidate for President (i.e., a federal candidate). Thus, equal provision rule applied to his candidacy. You can read more about the equal time rule, and the exceptions (and why it doesn't apply to Howard) on this broadcast industry website:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/equaltimeru/equaltimeru.htm

Thanks for the link. But the information you provided CLEARLY indicates the FCC equal time provision applies to the station not the race. Read the paragraph dealing with how it applied to the Chicago Mayor's race, reprinted below:

A major amendment to Section 315 came in 1959 following a controversial Federal Communications Commission (FCC) interpretation of the equal time provision. Lar Daly, who had run for a variety of public offices, sometimes campaigning dressed as Uncle Sam, was running for mayor of Chicago. Daly demanded free air time from Chicago television stations in response to the stations' news coverage of incumbent mayor Richard Daley. Although the airtime given to Mayor Daley was not directly related to his re-election campaign, the FCC ruled that his appearance triggered the equal opportunity provision of Section 315. Broadcasters interpreted the FCC's decision as now requiring equal time for a candidate anytime another candidate appeared on the air, even if the appearance was not linked to the election campaign.

The equal opportunity law does not demand that a station afford a state or local candidate any air time. However, under the public interest standard of the Communications Act, the FCC has said that stations should make time available for candidates for major state and local offices.

Of interest to me this morning was what I saw in Sunday's "Opinion" section of the SS. The back page was devoted to introducing readers to the SS's editorial board. Not only was Howard Greenberg "introduced", but the opening line begins, "As president and publisher of the Sun-Sentinel, Howard has the strongest voice on the Editorial Board. In a sense, it's his Editorial Board, but it's run in a very democratic fashion." There's more, of course.

Here we have the church/state erosion so blatent, they are laughing at all of you/us that still believe in any sacredness of the supposed separation. The gig is up, and what you see is what is. No words are being minced here, folks. The SS has morphed into a Pennysaver, of sorts, where everything in it is for sale ... but with a little more narrative thrown in.

I was surprised that you did not comment on this one, Pulp.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought the publisher was in charge of every editorial board.

Goldilocks:

You mention Sun-Sentinel and narrative in the same thought? You MUST be joking. The S-S wouldn't know narrative if it walked into the newsroom and introduced itself. Of course, with all the government meetings they cover, maybe one day they can turn a narrative out of that. Or turn a narrative out of a downed street sign.