May a public radio station prohibit extremist groups from sponsoring programs?
This is a developing area of the law. Although no court has answered this question yet, it seems likely that the answer would turn on whether the public radio station is found to be part of the government. At least one court already has found, in a different context, that a public radio station is not a government actor. If a public radio broadcaster, such as National Public Radio, is found not to be part of the government, it is not bound by the First Amendment’s prohibition against discriminating against a group because of the content of its speech. If, however, a public radio station is found to be part of the government, then it is unlikely that it could refuse to allow an extremist group, such as the Ku Klux Klan, to sponsor a program. Such a decision would constitute impermissible discrimination based on content. The radio station conceivably could refuse to accept all “political” advertising, but it could not refuse the extremist group while allowing an anti-racist group to spon
