Not Your Father's FCC

NOT YOUR FATHER'S FCC
[Commentary] We've come a long way from the 1939 Federal Communications Commission headed by James Lawrence Fly, an opponent of "chain broadcasting" -- the domination of local broadcasting by the CBS and NBC Red and Blue radio networks. In the 1980s, the FCC dismantled nearly every public interest obligation on the books and to enable a tsunami of media consolidation. The results have been disastrous -- reporters fired, newsrooms shuttered and our civic dialogue dumbed down to fact-free opinions and ideological bloviation. The good news is that eras of reform follow periods of reaction. Today, a new spirit of change is abroad in the land. The question is whether we can have media capable of covering the issues that real Americans -- not just Wall Street and Madison Avenue -- care about. A media environment dominated by the established interests, unwilling or unable to reflect the concerns of ordinary citizens, is the natural enemy of change and the progressive spirit in American politics. Truly democratic, diverse and vibrant media, on the other hand, are a powerful engine for turning grassroots hope into political possibility and eventually an irresistible force. All the other critical issues discussed in the magazine you are holding will be significantly influenced -- perhaps determined -- by whether we can democratize our media. Commissioner Copps proposes: 1) reinvigorating the license-renewal process, 2) revising media ownership rules, and 3) making "sure the Internet remains free of the network consolidation and content control that wreaked such havoc on more traditional media."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080407/copps

* Copps Plan to Boost Localism Won't Fly
[SOURCE: tvnewsday 4/4, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] The NAB has recognized the threat that the Copps-inspired regulations represents. Last week, it challenged the enhanced disclosure rules in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. It is also trying to block the rules from going into effect at the Office of Management and Budget on the grounds that the rules are an unwarranted paperwork burden. Meanwhile, it has launched a lobbying campaign to persuade members of Congress to write the FCC in opposition to the local quota rulemaking. Both efforts are to be applauded and encouraged. The NAB hired Wilmer Hale, a highly capable D.C. law firm, to lead the charge on the lawsuit. And I'm sure it is prepared to go for an injunction if the NAB’s OMB gambit fails (as it probably will). The trick to the letter-writing campaign is not only to get a lot of lawmakers to write, but to get the right lawmakers to write -- the ones who sit on the commerce committees and have oversight of the FCC. Every broadcaster with any sway with a representative or senator needs to join in the effort. And the NAB also needs to make sure that every broadcast lobby in town -- that means non-members Fox and CBS, too -- is fully engaged.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/04/04/daily.10/