Hold TV Broadcasters Accountable for Inadequate Election and Government Coverage, Groups Tell FCC

HOLD TV BROADCASTERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR INADEQUATE ELECTION AND GOVERNMENT COVERAGE, GROUPS TELL FCC
[SOURCE: Midwest Democracy Network]
An alliance of Midwest civic and political reform groups is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to impose stronger public interest obligations on local television broadcasters as part of the new regulatory framework that will govern the pending transition from analog to digital broadcasting. In a letter sent to the FCC and federal lawmakers from five Midwestern states, the alliance cites recent studies showing that the viewing public is being shortchanged on coverage of state and local elections and critical government issues. The studies show that coverage of government and elections gets much less air time than crime, sports, and weather, and that during election season political ads outweigh election coverage by nearly three to one. "The findings from the Midwest News Index (MNI) reports reveal a retreat from responsibility by local television stations," the groups said in their letter, citing studies conducted during the past year by the University of Wisconsin NewsLab. "They also reveal an equally distressing failure by the Federal Communications Commission to regulate broadcasting in accordance with the 'public interest, convenience, or necessity,' a principle first enshrined in the Radio Act of 1927 and later in the Communications Act of 1934." The FCC is currently considering new rules to reflect the national transition from analog to digital broadcasting. The conversion, which is to be completed by February 2009, will allow single-license holders to air programming over several separate channels. Given the impact this transition will have on overall programming and the broadcast business generally, the alliance believes it is vitally important to strengthen and clarify broadcasters' public interest obligations -- and to do it before the transition is complete.
www.joycefdn.org/MidwestDemocracyNetwork.aspx