Enlightened Dialogue Begins with Accurate Information

Charlie Firestone, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, responds to Patrick Maines’ recent attack piece published in Huffington Post.

By Charlie Firestone

As the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute program that oversaw the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, and it’s report, Informing Communities, www.knightcomm.org, I have watched with interest Mr. Maines’ persistent attacks [here and here] on this bi-partisan commission’s report.  We are pleased that this report engenders comment, as it is very important for the American people to discuss these points.  Accordingly, I really encourage readers to check out the real report.  I think it will surprise people who are relying on Mr. Maines for an accurate description or characterization.

That is because the very first recommendation of the Report, after a strong statement in support of the function of journalism, is “Direct media policy toward innovation, competition, and support for business models that provide marketplace incentives for quality journalism.”  That is the thrust of the recommendation — let’s see how the extensive experimentation in journalism will play out over the next several years.

At the same time, the Commission did take note at page 34 of some content neutral approaches being proposed to help the cause of journalism, and commended them for public dialogue.  We need to be talking about these issues.  Thus, “While the Commission clearly does not invite governments to meddle in the practice of journalism, it is aware of a number of proposals to aid journalistic organizations.”  Those provisions were almost all in the tax realm, none of which would depend on the political leanings of those in power, nor constitutionally could they.

As for the other two items mentioned, yes, the Commission did call for more support for public media, which it also said should become more local, interactive and diverse.  I understand that Mr. Maines is personally averse to public service media, but it is one more way that citizens can hope to receive information that will enhance their lives and their communities — the real issue at hand.

And the Knight Commission did call for government to “Maintain the national commitment to open networks as a core objective of Internet policy.”  In that recommendation (#9) the Commission reaffirmed the national consensus around the “end-to-end principle” and did not take a position on the details of the current net neutrality proceeding.

But the oddest thing is that Mr. Maines would take such a negative approach to this bipartisan commission, which included the likes of Theodore B. Olson, former Solicitor General under George W. Bush, and Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the NAACP; Reed Hundt, Chairman of the FCC in the Clinton Administration, and Michael Powell, his successor as FCC Chair during the Bush Administration.  They all feared that local communities were not sufficiently concerned about their information health, which they said was “as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.”

We need a dialogue in this country about these issues.  I’m glad Mr. Maines is joining in.  I just wish he would read the Knight Commission report a bit more carefully.  You can read it, and comment on it, at www.knightcomm.org or on Twitter at #knightcomm.