Questions for journalists and news directors that had...
Questions for journalists and news directors that had been part of the research design for the FCC’s critical information needs (CIN) studies have been removed at the direction of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and the study has been on hold…
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while being reviewed and redesigned, the FCC said Friday. The portion of the study questioning what news stories broadcasters cover had drawn ire in the form of a December letter from Republicans (CD Dec 11 p11), including subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan and a Wall Street Journal op-ed from Commissioner Ajit Pai (CD Feb 13 p1). Wheeler “agreed that survey questions in the study directed toward media outlet managers, news directors, and reporters overstepped the bounds of what is required,” said a statement from the FCC. In a reply letter sent to lawmakers (http://bit.ly/1fi15gi) Wheeler said the FCC “has no intention of regulating political or other speech of journalists or broadcasters.” The Columbia, S.C., pilot of the draft study “will not be undertaken until a new study design is final,” the FCC release said. “Any subsequent market studies conducted by the FCC, if determined necessary, will not seek participation from or include questions for media owners, news directors or reporters.” In a statement, Pai said he welcomed the study’s suspension. “This study would have thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country, somewhere it just doesn’t belong,” he said. The FCC “has now recognized that no study by the federal government, now or in the future, should involve asking questions to media owners, news directors, or reporters about their practice,” Pai said.