House Commerce Committee To Examine NPR Editorial Standards

The House Commerce Committee plans to "examine certain editorial and employment standards and practices at NPR," as part of its communications oversight.

Among the other communications and technology oversight issues the committee plans to focus on are Federal Communications Commission processes and decisions, particularly whether the FCC does cost-benefit and market analyses on the impact of its regulations; the National Telecommunications & Administration/Rural Utilities Service management of $7 billion in broadband stimulus money; the FCC's National Broadband Plan; Universal Service Fund Reform; privacy and cyber security; and spectrum management. The section on spectrum management does not mention broadcasters, some of whose spectrum the FCC wants to reclaim, but instead focuses on that spectrum's increasing use for advanced voice, video and data services. The plan for the committee is to "evaluate spectrum-management policies to ensure that such policies are maximizing the efficient use of the public airwaves for innovative communications services. The Committee will also examine whether plans for allocating spectrum maximizes capacity for broadband deployment and encourages investment."