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F. Robert Stein Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 7 Apr 2014

Biographical History

F. Robert Stein is an American attorney. Early in his career he worked in the Broadcast Section of the CBS Inc. legal department where, among other things, he drafted numerous Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings on behalf of CBS. CBS "took very seriously its First Amendment rights and its obligations to the public" [Stein, email] and weighed in on a wide range of issues relating to television and radio broadcasting.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The F. Robert Stein Papers consists of photocopies of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings relating to a wide range of issues relating to television and radio broadcasting. Each document is, in effect, a position paper reflecting the views of CBS Inc. in a rulemaking proceeding or a license renewal proceeding then before the Commission. A few of these papers concern fairly technical or esoteric issues, such as the Commission's requirements for station program logs. Most, however, concern issues of considerable potential interest to scholars or historians of popular culture. Among these is a 30-page brief, entitled "Comments of CBS Inc.", in a rulemaking proceeding instituted at the behest of the Hollywood production community, intended to limit the number of hours of re-runs that network-owned or -affiliated stations could broadcast during prime time, and thus to force the networks to purchase additional hours of original programming from the Hollywood production community. Others responded to efforts by interest groups such as "Chinese for Affirmative Action" and "Committee for Open Media", to deny the renewal of the broadcast license of CBS-owned radio station KCBS, or, more realistically, to use the threat of potential denial to force CBS to accede to their respective demands.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has numerous collections relating to radio, television and film. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

Subject Headings

Persons

Stein, F. Robert.

Corporate Bodies

CBS Inc.
National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting.
United States. -- Federal Communications Commission.

Subjects

Broadcasting -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Broadcasting -- Licenses -- United States.
Broadcasting policy -- United States.
Radio -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Radio stations -- Licenses -- United States.
Television -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Television stations -- Licenses -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Briefs (legal documents)
Dockets.
Legal documents.
Petitions.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

F. Robert Stein Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of F. Robert Stein, 2014.

Table of Contents

Legal documents

Inventory