Podcast #224: How the FCC Could Support Diversity, Localism & Competition in Radio & TV

All nine judges on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently denied the FCC’s request for a rehearing on its many-times rejected media ownership rules. Prof. Christopher Terry calls this the Commission’s “Legacy of Failure.” But it begs the question, what does success look like?

Prof. Terry, who teaches media law at the University of Minnesota, joins us to discuss what another broadcast world might look like. Going back to fundamentals, he explains that media ownership rules are expected to serve the objectives of furthering diversity, localism and competition, and that is the standard against which they are judged. The Third Circuit has ruled again and again that the Commission has failed to provide evidence that rules changes – in the face of 23 years of increased consolidation, reduced localism and a dwindling number of women and minority station owners – would stem this tide.

While these seem like difficult trends to reverse, Prof. Terry thinks that a recent FCC policy initiative might actually work, with just a few modifications. He tells us how this could happen. He also fills us in on the status of Network Neutrality as public interest petitioners file their appeals in the appeals court case that upheld the Commission’s reversal of the 2015 Open Internet rules.

Show Notes:

• “Localism as a Solution to Market Failure: Helping the FCC Comply with the Telecommunications Act” by Christopher Terry
• The FCC’s Score in Media Ownership Policy is 0 – 4
• Podcast #199 – The FCC Is ‘Flunking Statistics 101’
• Podcast #214 – Net Neutrality Is a Local Issue Now
• Wikipedia: National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Services
• Ars Technica: FCC’s “illogical” claim that broadband isn’t telecommunications faces appeal

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