Recap: FCC Workshop on Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era
For those who were not able to attend or follow the live stream of the first Federal Communications Commission workshop on the Future of Media and the Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age: Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era, we’ve gathered some of the documents related to the workshop. The workshop is part of the Commission’s agency-wide initiative to assess the state of media in these challenging economic times and make recommendations designed to promote a vibrant media landscape.
The focus was commercial broadcast media. Three panels of presenters, many familiar names from past battles over media regulation in the public interest, mapped out the past, present and future of the media landscape and the FCC’s role in that future. Panelists, who represented perspectives across the regulatory spectrum, differed on how best to define and preserve the public interest in the networked digital media environment.
Steven Waldman, the Senior Advisor to the FCC Chairman who is leading the Future of Media inquiry, has said he expects to schedule at least one additional workshop, with a probably focus on noncommercial media.
We provide links to prepared remarks and presentations where available, and will add more as additional materials become available.
Video of the Workshop, March 4, 2010: http://reboot.fcc.gov/live/
Workshop Agenda and Bios
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Steven Waldman (Moderator) , Senior Advisor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
Michael J. Copps, Commissioner, FCC
Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, FCC
Panel Discussion I: A Brief History and Overview of the “Public Interest” in Media Policymaking
Paul Starr, Professor of Communications and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Henry Geller, U.S. Telecommunications Legal Expert and Former FCC General Counsel
Robert Ratcliffe, Deputy Chief, Media Bureau, FCC
Panel Discussion II: Traditional Media – Local Television and Radio Public Interest Obligations
Angela Campbell, Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Public Representation, Georgetown University
Barbara Cochran, President Emeritus, Radio Television Digital News Association
Jerald N. Fritz, Senior Vice President, Allbritton Communications
Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology, New York University
Jane Mago, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters
Tom Rosenstiel, Director, Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism
Andrew J. Schwartzman, President and CEO, Media Access Project
Panel Discussion III: Policy Implications of Convergence and the Digital Transformation
Daniel L. Brenner, Partner, Hogan & Hartson LLP, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Law School
Christopher Guttman-McCabe, Vice President Regulatory Affairs, CTIA-The Wireless Association
Jeff Jarvis, Associate Professor, Director of the Interactive Program, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
Srinandan Kasi, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Associated Press
Ben Scott, Policy Director, Free Press
Adam Thierer, President and Director, Center for Media and Digital Freedom, The Progress & Freedom Foundation
Navarrow Wright, President, Maximum Leverage Solutions
Media Coverage of the Workshop
John Eggerton, “Broadcasters: We Don’t Need Government to Tell Us How to Serve Our Public,” Broadcasting & Cable, March 4, 2010.
“Copps Rips Broadcasters at FCC Public Interest Workshop,” All Access Music Group, March 4, 2010.
“FCC’s Copps Takes Broadcasters to Task in Speech,” FMQB, March 5, 2010
Harry A. Jessell, “Whose Public Interest Is it Anyway?” TVNewsCheck, March 5, 2010.
