FCC Chairman Confirms Proceeding to Review the State of Journalism, And Expresses Views on Content Regulation
An interview with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has just been released by Broadcasting and Cable magazine. In that interview, the Chairman confirms press reports (which we cited here) that there is a planned FCC Notice of Inquiry to look into the news media in the digital world - the first public confirmation of this inquiry from on-the-record FCC sources that I've seen. The Chairman stated, however, that there was no timetable for the initiation of this proceeding. He also confirmed that he believes that broadcast content regulation is justified given that many Americans still rely on over-the-air television as their only source of video programming. The interview touches on the children's television rules, indecency enforcement, diversity in the media and even FCC delays in processing applications for the sale of stations against which petitions have been filed.
We suggest reading this interview, as it is the first extensive discussion we've seen by the new Chairman of his views on regulation of the broadcast media. And, for anyone who had hopes that broadcast regulation would simply fade away, it looks like there may be some FCC proceedings to slog through before those hopes are met.
