Leave Programming out of the Media-Ownership Debate

摘要

The FCC's broadcast-ownership proceeding has become a public referendum about the quality of media content. When the FCC launched the omnibus proceeding to review its various ownership rules, it did so under a congressional mandate to "determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as the result of competition." A critical question is whether the commission must show that the rules are "indispensable" to the public interest or merely consistent with the public interest. Traditionally, three issues are included in the public-interest calculus supporting restrictions: competition, localism and diversity of information sources.