Wheeler Brings More Direct Style to Agency, Advocates Say He Showed in Meeting

The meeting was a high-level discussion of Wheeler’s priorities, as well as the concerns of the groups in attendance, said public interest participants. Wheeler repeated much of what he had said publicly, discussing the need for meaningful competition in the telecom industry, the lack of broadband in tribal areas, importance of consumer protection and diversity, said meeting attendees. The difference, some said, is in Wheeler’s clear preference for pragmatism.

The meeting spent the most time on diversity, among the issues the advocates raised, said attendees including Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) Chief Research and Policy Officer Nicol Turner-Lee. Wheeler offered few policy specifics and reiterated some of what he’s said before, such as that he will resort to regulation of industry if circumstances require, said attendees. “The basic message was ‘I understand what the job is, and I am willing to be regulatory if regulation is necessary,'” said a public-interest lawyer who attended. The conversation was described as largely at a general level, with civil rights and public interest groups raising issues such as media ownership and slamming.

Attendees at the public-interest groups’ meeting with Wheeler included many major advocates based in Washington who frequently work with the FCC, said attendees. Perhaps 25 people attended in total, including Wheeler’s aides, in the gathering in a conference room in the chairman’s eighth-floor office, said one participant. “All the seats were filled, and his staff sort of had to be along the wall.” Bureau chiefs and top aides to Wheeler attended, recounted attendees and Free Press in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/IiOZ7Y).

Wheeler’s topics of conversation weren’t surprising, but “also not what I would expect a new chairman to say,” said Sascha Meinrath, director of New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute (OTI). “He showed a real acumen for today’s realities” and didn’t sugar coat things, said Meinrath, who attended, in an interview Thursday. Wheeler delved into “known problems that for a long time people have been content to not talk about,” said Meinrath.

OTI is cautiously optimistic about Wheeler, Meinrath said. He contrasted Wheeler’s openness with what he called Genachowski’s “retaliation” tactics. Meinrath acknowledged he’s been “one of the more vocal critics” of the new chairman, but “Wheeler’s response was to say, ‘Well, we're going to meet with you, and we're going to consider you part of this public interest community.'” That’s a “really important differentiation” from past chairs, Meinrath said: “If you critiqued Genachowski he would disinvite you” from future events. It was “such bad leadership,” he said. Wheeler “is a far more mature chairman who is interested in ensuring that everyone is in the room and in the mix.” Genachowski, now teaching at Harvard Law, did not comment.

Meeting attendee Harold Feld of Public Knowledge also wrote some “very scathing things” about Genachowski, but “was never disinvited from anything,” said Feld. What the industry needs to remember is that “chairmen are human beings, and like any human being, they're going to respond to praise and they're going to respond to criticism,” Feld said. “I do think that a chair has a responsibility to rise above that.” That Wheeler went out of his way to invite Meinrath to attend despite his “vocal” opposition “does speak very well of Wheeler’s character,” Feld said.

"I don’t think it’s so much that Wheeler is reaching out more than Genachowski did. I think it’s the fact that Wheeler is being very frank,” Feld said. “He’s making it clear that he’s willing to tell people where he stands.” Wheeler said he wanted to be “very clear” that the FCC has a mission to protect consumers, but it’s also important to get results, Feld said. “He was forthright, he was very clearly on top of all of the issues which is, again, an improvement ... over when Genachowski and his team came in, when there was a lot of education that had to happen.”

It’s easy for a chairman to deliver great rhetoric in the first couple months, public interest officials said. They said the real measure is what Wheeler will do when politically difficult decisions have to be made that will upset powerful constituencies. Wheeler will have to make decisions that “might step on some toes” when he decides how the IP transition trials will be conducted, Feld said, and whether they're designed to deregulate, or whether the burden will be on the carriers to show that regulations aren’t necessary.

Policy Director Matt Wood of Free Press agrees that Wheeler is both more direct than Genachowski about where he stands on various issues, and has also been reaching out more. “The reaching out right now is sort of rote,” he said. Free Press President Craig Aaron attended for that group, said an ex parte filing. According to the filing, FCC attendees included several of Wheeler’s leadership team, including: Ruth Milkman, chief of staff; Phil Verveer, senior counselor; Gigi Sohn, special counsel for external affairs; Diane Cornell, special counsel; legal advisers Daniel Alvarez, Renee Gregory and Maria Kirby. Also in attendance were Jon Sallet, head of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force; Bill Lake, chief, Media Bureau; and Roger Sherman, acting chief of the Wireless Bureau.

Turner-Lee was “happy that MMTC was invited to a discussion about Wheeler’s new agenda and how he intends to engage the public-interest community,” she said. “We're encouraged by his level of energy and commitment to pending and future FCC issues.” Wheeler “made sure we knew that he had an open door” to say “I want your input, and I want you to know that I'm going to listen,” she recalled, paraphrasing him. Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Managing Policy Director Corrine Yu also attended, she said.

Separately Tuesday, Wheeler met with over a dozen association heads, including from USTelecom, Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, NCTA, and the American Cable Association. CEA President Gary Shapiro thinks “it was terrific and wise for the new chairman to introduce himself and the staff and lay out his vision,” said the meeting participant in an email. “I will bet subsequent FCC Chairs follow this precedent as it saves several meetings and arrangements for courtesy calls.” Wheeler’s time waiting for confirmation and experience with many relevant jobs certainly have let him “hit the ground running,” and the meeting “reflected his wisdom, maturity and street smarts,” Shapiro said.

NAB President Gordon Smith, also at the meeting, said Wheeler “was warm, friendly and engaging.” Smith said Wheeler seemed to imply that the FCC would pay more attention to encouraging innovation in the broadcast industry than previous administrations. Little specific policy was discussed at the meeting, though Wheeler told the associations that “his door was open and his mind was open,” Smith said.