ENTERTAINMENT

Justice Department to Defend New Cable Law: The U.S. Justice Department, in a reversal from Bush Administration policy, will defend the government against lawsuits seeking to strike down a rule requiring cable operators to carry the programming of local broadcasters. The decision bolsters beleaguered broadcasters and overturns a controversial decision previously made by the Justice Department not to defend the “must-carry rule” of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. The about-face pits the Justice Department against Turner Broadcasting System Inc., which has filed suit against the U.S. government and Federal Communications Commission, claiming that the new law would violate the First Amendment because it would regulate what video programming cable operators and affiliated programmers could air.