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The section of the Radio Act referring to political broad¬ casts roads:
"If any licensee shall permit any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting sta¬ tion, and the licensing authority shall make rules and regulations to carry this provision into effect: Provided, That such licensee shall have no power of censorship over the material broadcast under the provisions of this paragraph. No obligation is hereby imposed upon any licensee to allow the use of its station by any such candidate."
When this section was written it is believed the sole idea of the committee which framed the Act was to secure fair treatment for all political speakers and that it did not realize that the line, "Provided, That such licensee shall have no power of censor¬ ship over the material broadcast under the provisions of this paragraph" might place the broadcaster in such position that, should one of the politicians thus protected insist upon being al¬ lowed to go on the air with a statement which the broadce.ster knew to be defamatory or libelous, he might be adjudged guilty and assessed damages.
The Supreme Court of Nebraska held that the radio broadcast¬ ing station is liable for defamatory statements uttered by a poli¬ tical speaker and broadcast by the company's station, notwithstand¬ ing the above statutory provision prohibiting censorship of ma¬ terial broadcast. In view of this decision, which is the
broadcasters only guide at present, any speaker submitting a speech which contains statements believed to be defamatory or li¬ belous, will have the fact pointed out to him. Should he de¬
cline to make any change in his copy, the station will refuse him the use of their transmitter, preferring to have the political speaker carry his case into the courts, rather than to permit the libelous statement to be broadcast. Should an extemporaneous speaker start to utter a defamatory statement, the microphone will be switched off as soon as the station management recognizes what the speaker is about-.
This whole situation was aired in the Nevada courts in the
case of Sorensen vs. Wood, et al* C. A. Sorensen, who was a
candidate for reelection as attorney general brought action for >$100,000 damages against Richard F. Wood, who was the speaker, and against KFAB Broadcasting Company, owner and operator of the sta¬ tion over which the speech was broadcast from Lincoln, Nebraska.
Tne jury found in favor of Mr. Sorensen as against Wood, assess¬ ing damages at one dollar, and found in favor of the defendant
company. Judgment was entered on the verdict against Wood for one dollar, absolving the broadcasting company from liability and awarding it execution for its costs. Mr. Sorensen appealed.