Release All Media Ownership Studies, Copps, Adelstein Say
The FCC should publicize all reports it has done or commissioned on changing media ownership rules, Comrs. Copps and Adelstein said during a teleconference about a minority ownership study released by Free Press. “The time is right now for the Commission to step up to the plate and explain all the research they have undertaken on this topic, whether it was released, suppressed, begun, finished or half- finished,” Copps said. FCC reports disclosed by Sen. Boxer (D- Cal.) (CD Sept. 19 p1) have raised enough doubt to cast a shadow over Commission research, he said: “We don’t know if the data that’s being used by the Commission to make its decision is credible or totally uncredible. This is the time for FCC research in the sunshine.”
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Quashing studies that contradict arguments raised by large media companies undercuts the FCC’s reputation as an “expert agency,” said Comr. Adelstein during the teleconference. Like Copps, Adelstein urged openness regarding all media ownership research. “We do deserve a full accounting of all the studies that are in progress and all the studies that have been done,” he said.
More questionably-handled FCC research may surface soon, said Mark Cooper, a McGannon Communications Research Center Fellow who co-wrote the Free Press minority ownership study. “There’s a lot of stuff bubbling around this, and I think we've not seen the end of it,” he said: “I think more studies will come to light.” Cooper also is research dir. of the Consumer Federation of America.
One example Cooper cited: A 2004 academic paper published in the International Journal on Media Management by FCC Economist Peter Alexander and U.S. Naval Academy Assoc. Economics Prof. Brendan Cunningham. The paper, “Diversity in Broadcast TV; An Empirical Study in Local News,” uses the same database used in the suppressed FCC study on minority ownership, Cooper said: “My question is… did this exist as an FCC study at some point?” Would we have seen this come out “as an FCC study” if management hadn’t decided to “put the kibosh on a lot of this stuff?,” he said.
The Commission should do its own formal study on minority ownership in media, because the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia told it to do that when it remanded the FCC’s 2003 rules, Adelstein said. This year’s rulemaking on ownership also may be vulnerable to remand because it doesn’t adequately address that matter, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council told the Commission last month (CD Aug. 25 p2). “The court has specifically instructed us… to look at this issue and address the MMTC concerns,” Adelstein said: “It really compels us to do our own study on this issue and determine what the impact [of deregulation] on minority ownership is.”
Ownership diversity may fall further if Granite, the largest minority-owned TV firm, goes bankrupt, said the Free Press study. The company must provide a major creditor a restructuring plan, it said. A Chapter 11 filing by Granite would cut the number of U.S. minority-held TV stations to 35, or 2.6% of all properties. FCC data on minority and female- held stations may be wrong, said Free Press. At least 10 stations the FCC deems female- or minority-owned are “under the de facto control of male or non-minority owners,” said the document. The study said stations owned by Granite and Radio One, the top minority-owned radio broadcaster, are missing from some agency minority reports.
The Media Bureau should bear down on data collection on minority broadcasters, which has been minimal, the report said: “The FCC has no accurate picture of the current state of female and minority ownership.” Form 323 filings on gender and race of station owners have been poorly monitored, Free Press said: “Sources inside the Media Bureau indicate that there is little oversight of Form 323 filings and the summary reports produced from them.” A bureau official declined to comment.