紐時賞析／美FCC又盯上深夜節目

美国时任总统拜登（左）2024年2月在纽约录制「塞斯迈尔斯深夜秀」时，和主持人塞斯迈尔斯（右）交谈。纽约时报

F.C.C. Targets Late-Night TV By Enforcing Rules on Politics

美FCC又盯上深夜节目

The Trump administration is opening a new front against late-night comedy, announcing plans to enforce long-dormant rules on appearances by political candidates on network talk shows.

川普政府把矛头对准深夜喜剧节目，宣布重启那些长期没人理的旧规定，要求谈话性节目邀请政治候选人时必须遵守相关规范。

Under new guidance released Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission warned that entertainment-oriented talk shows carried on local television stations were required to offer candidates vying for the same office equal airtime.

根据周三公布的新指引，联邦通讯委员会要求地方电视台播出的娱乐性谈话节目，必须给竞选同一职位的候选人提供一样的播出时间。

The guidance was clearly aimed at the late-night hosts who frequently anger President Donald Trump — Jimmy Kimmel of ABC, Stephen Colbert of CBS and Seth Meyers of NBC — and have in turn drawn scrutiny from FCC Chair Brendan Carr. But it would also cover daytime talk shows including another Trump target, “The View.”

这项指引显然冲着那些经常惹恼总统川普的深夜脱口秀主持人，如美国广播公司的吉米金莫、哥伦比亚广播公司的史蒂芬柯贝尔，及美国国家广播公司的塞斯迈尔斯。他们也因此受到联邦通讯委员会主席卡尔盯上。这项指引也涵盖日间脱口秀，包括川普的另一个批评目标「观点」。

The guidance addresses long-standing conservative complaints that the late-night shows have tilted too far to the left and are far more likely to have Democrats than Republicans as guests. It is in keeping with Carr’s yearlong campaign to use old and largely unenforced media regulations, known as the “public interest standard,” to crack down on the major networks for perceived bias.

这项指引回应保守派长期以来的怨言，他们抱怨深夜脱口秀立场过于左倾，且邀请民主党人上节目的机率远高于共和党人。这项指引与卡尔1年来的行动相符，他试图使用老旧且基本上未被执行的「公共利益标准」，打击他认为立场偏颇的主要电视网。

In a statement, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, called the new guidance “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.” She added: “Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation.”

联邦通讯委员会唯一的民主党籍委员葛梅兹透过声明批评，新指引是「该委员会持续审查与控制言论行动的升级版」。她补充说：「电视台不应害怕被监管行为报复，而被迫淡化、粉饰或避免进行批判性报导。」

A conservative group that has led in bringing formal complaints at the FCC, the Center for American Rights, hailed the FCC announcement. Media experts on both sides of the ideological spectrum said it would make it easier for the group, and others, to bring complaints against the late-night hosts and “The View.”

一直带头向联邦通讯委员会投诉的保守派团体「美国权利中心」对这公告很满意。不同意识形态阵营的媒体专家表示，这将使该团体和其他人更容易针对深夜脱口秀节目主持人和「观点」找麻烦。

The guidance involves a “public interest” requirement that stations give rival candidates for office equal opportunities to buy ad time and appear on their airwaves. “Bona fide” news programming such as the evening newscasts is exempt from those rules.

这项指引涉及对「公共利益」的要求，即电视台必须给竞选同个公职的竞争对手相等的机会购买广告时段，并在节目露面。真正的新闻节目如晚间新闻，则不受此规范约束。

“This major announcement from the FCC should stop one-sided left-wing entertainment shows masquerading as ‘bona fide news,’” Daniel Suhr, the president of the Center for American Rights, said on the social platform X.

美国权利中心主席苏尔在社群平台X表示：「联邦通讯委员会的重大公告应该能遏止那些一面倒的左派娱乐节目伪装成『真正的新闻节目』」。

文／Jim Rutenberg，译／罗方妤

延伸阅读