Networks Aren't Wal-Marts

NETWORKS AREN'T WAL-MARTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Jonathan Rintels, Center for Creative Voices in Media]
[Commentary] B&C’s October 9 editorial “Take Risks”, concerning the complaints made against Big Media at the FCC’s public hearings in L.A., fails to mention the primary reason the FCC was holding public hearings in the first place: because broadcasters who have been granted a license to use the public’s airwaves, with no payment to the public, are required by law to operate in the public interest. Analogizing broadcasting to Wal-Mart while ignoring this critical fact is misleading and inapposite. The editorial suggests that creatives blocked by the networks from access to the public airwaves should instead create for the Internet and YouTube. Many are doing just that. But the existence of the Internet does not in any way relieve broadcasters of their obligation to operate in the public interest. As David Rehr, president of the NAB, said the day after the FCC’s public hearings, “By any measure, broadcast remains the undisputed leader in news and entertainment -- by far.”
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6383684.html?display=Opinion