FCC Laying Grounds for New
Fairness Doctrine?
by Warner Todd Huston 4 Nov 2013
In 2012, the FCC contracted with
the left-leaning Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism to study
"entry barriers" to the media and see whether or not minority groups
had enough access to the media. This year the FCC is launching a wide-ranging study
that will require news agencies to inform the government on what stories they
cover.
What may follow that is a push for
a new "fairness doctrine" as the FCC makes recommendations intended
to force the media to air stories which the government wants reported.
The 2012 study was carried out by University of Southern
California’s Annenberg
School of Communication and Journalism--a school operated by the same group
that employed a pre-President Barack
Obama and domestic terrorist William
Ayers in Chicago
in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The study, as part of the Federal Communication Commission's 2012
Report to Congress about the barriers to participation in the communications
industry (also known as the Section 257 Report), was intended to "identify
market entry barriers and whether such barriers impact the public’s critical
information needs." A second goal was to help the FCC make "proposals
to eliminate statutory barriers to market entry by those entities, consistent
with the public interest, convenience and necessity." The FCC intended to
begin the process of laying down in the regulations definitions of what
constitutes “critical information” and what doesn’t.
In 2013, the second leg of that
project was announced as a “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs.”
A study, titled "Research
Design for the Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," was
released in April. The study was produced by a company called Social Solutions
International, Inc.. SSI has been awarded hundreds of thousands of taxpayer
dollars in federal contracts.
One of the goals of this new
project is to conduct a "media census" on just what is being
broadcast in the electronic media and published in magazines, newspapers, and
on the Internet.
"Researchers will analyze the
content of broadcasts, newspaper articles, and website postings to determine
the extent to which eight defined ‘Critical Information Needs’ (CINs) are being
covered," reported Eve Reed.
In a May 24 announcement of the
project, Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said that the FCC has a
"duty" to find out what news is being broadcast.
The FCC has a duty to make sure
that the industries it regulates serve the needs of the American public no
matter where they live or what financial resources they have. The research design
we announce today is an important next step in understanding what those needs
are, how Americans obtain the information critical to their daily lives in a
dynamic technological environment, and what barriers exist in our media
ecologies to providing and accessing this information.
The FCC also issued the following
comment: "The commission needs to conduct or commission research that
illuminates the diversity of views available to local communities, the
diversity of sources in local markets and the diversity of critical information
needs of the American public, including women and minorities."
Some of the eight CINs are telling
as to what sort of criteria the FCC is using to quantify what is supposed to be
useful information for a community. Two of the categories being assessed are
whether or not a media outlet is properly informing customers about "the
environment" and what "economic opportunity" news is
reported--the latter as opposed to plain economics or news on the economy.
To determine if the media is
fulfilling these CINs, media outlets will be required to fill out a very long
survey to report to the government about what stories they are airing or
publishing in the several categories being assessed.
Among other criteria, the study
will ascertain: what "news philosophy" is pursued by the media outlet
(i.e. it's ideological direction); how the media outlet defines "critical
information"; see if the media includes "community input" into
its stories; and review the "decision making process" to find out how
the media outlet determines what stories to cover.
Critics of this study, however,
worry that with this government-enforced, intrusive survey into what stories
the media is covering and how they are covering them, some freedoms will be
lost.
Chuck Sweeny, for instance,
wrapped up his recent report on the FCC's study saying, "When 'Big Brother
is watching' over reporters’ and editors’ shoulders, freedom of the press will
be gone, and our liberty with it."
For her part, Eve Reed also raised
concerns. "But the questions that the researchers will be asking suggest a
renewed interest on the part of the FCC in the inner workings of station and
newspaper editorial decision-making, which may itself raise concerns," she
said.
All this raises worries that the
FCC is looking for a backdoor way of re-instituting the Fairness Doctrine--the
repeal of which gave us radio programs like the Rush Limbaugh show and paved
the way for Fox News--in a new effort to control what goes on the air and who
can own what media.
Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
Mark D. Schneider
was an associate general counsel for the Federal
Communication Commission (FCC), and is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.
Note: Bernadine Dohrn
was a litigator at Sidley Austin LLP,
a member of the Weather Underground,
and is married to William C. Ayers.
William C. Ayers
is married to Bernadine Dohrn, Richard M. Daley’s adviser, was a
member of the Weather Underground,
and a chairman for the Chicago Annenberg
Challenge.
Barack
Obama was a chairman for the Chicago
Annenberg Challenge, and an intern at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP, was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s
staffer, and is a friend of Valerie B.
Jarrett.
R.
Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Richard
M. Daley’s adviser is William C.
Ayers, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, was the Chicago
(IL) mayor, Michelle Obama was
his staffer, and Valerie B. Jarrett
was his deputy chief of staff.
Valerie B. Jarrett
was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s deputy
chief of staff, is a friend of Michelle
Obama, a friend of Linda Johnson
Rice, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Linda Johnson
Rice is a friend of Valerie B.
Jarrett, a board of councilor’s member for the Annenberg School for Communication, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a
director at the United Negro College
Fund.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
Newton
N. Minow is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and was the chairman for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee
at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Marc B. Nathanson
is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a board of
councilor’s member for the Annenberg
School for Communication.
Julius
Genachowski is a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and was the chairman for the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
Michael K. Powell
was the chairman for the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), is Colin
L. Powell’s son, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Colin
L. Powell is Michael K. Powell’s
father, and was a director at the United
Negro College Fund.
Reed
E. Hundt is a director at the United
Negro College Fund, and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Blair
Levin was the chief of staff to the chairman for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), and is a fellow at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the NPR, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George
Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, and a benefactor for the NPR.
Walda Wanger
Roseman was the SVP for the NPR,
and the international communications director for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
Amy
L. Nathan is the senior counsel, strategic planning & policy analysis
for the Federal Communication Commission
(FCC), and was an attorney at Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.
Kathleen Q.
Abernathy was a commissioner for the Federal
Communication Commission (FCC), and a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a
senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer & Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Richard
C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), married to Senator Dianne Feinstein,
and the chairman for the CBRE Group, Inc.
Going Postal
Tuesday, October 29,
2013
Bradford M.
Freeman is a director at CBRE Group, Inc., and was a board of councilor’s member for the Annenberg School for Communication.
Mickey
Kantor is a director at CBRE Group, Inc., a partner at Mayer Brown, and was a board of councilor’s
member for the Annenberg School for
Communication.
Robert
A. Helman is a partner at Mayer Brown, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
William M. Daley
Professional career
Daley returned to
the practice of law, as a partner with the firm Mayer Brown (then Mayer, Brown & Platt) from 1993 to 1997.
William
M. Daley was a partner at Mayer Brown, the chief of staff for the Barack
Obama administration, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and Mayor Richard M. Daley’s brother.
Richard
M. Daley is William M. Daley’s
brother, William C. Ayers, is his
adviser, a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, was the Chicago (IL) mayor,
Michelle Obama was his staffer, and Valerie B. Jarrett was his deputy chief
of staff.
William C. Ayers
is Richard M. Daley’s adviser, married
to Bernadine Dohrn, was a member of
the Weather Underground, and a
chairman for the Chicago Annenberg
Challenge.
Bernadine Dohrn
is married to William C. Ayers, was a
member of the Weather Underground,
and a litigator at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was a chairman for the Chicago
Annenberg Challenge, and an intern at Sidley
Austin LLP.
R.
Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Newton
N. Minow is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and was the chairman for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
Mark D. Schneider
is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP,
and was an associate general counsel for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
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