Cancelled CIN Study Leaves FCC with Information Gap, Say Public Interest Officials
The cancellation of the FCC’s critical information needs (CIN) studies Friday (CD March 3 p1) leaves the commission without a clear way to gather data needed to provide Congress with required information about barriers to entry in the communications industry, address the problems of underserved populations or change media ownership rules, said public interest officials in interviews Monday. Since that information is still needed, the commission may seek to have a similar study done by an independent outside entity -- such as a university -- to avoid the concerns about government overreach that tanked the CIN study, said United Church of Christ (UCC) Policy Advisor Cheryl Leanza. The commission has an “obligation” to gather data on how its policies work to establish an adequate record for rulemakings on ownership, she said.
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On ownership diversity, “now is the time for action, not for study” said a spokesman for Commissioner Ajit Pai’s office in an emailed statement. Pai has been a vocal critic of the CIN studies (CD Feb 13 p1). “The CIN study was an unnecessary distraction that wouldn’t have addressed how changes to our media ownership rules would impact minority ownership,” said Pai. To address ownership diversity, the commission should “establish an incubator program to facilitate new entry into the broadcasting industry,” said the spokesman. The commission’s new openness to increased foreign ownership of broadcast stations could also help ownership diversity, the spokesman said.
The attacks on the CIN studies from Pai and Republican legislators (CD Dec 11 p11) were “a way to attack the Obama administration,” Leanza said, comparing the criticism to the way the commission’s Lifeline program was characterized as the “Obamaphone.” This “was not a substantive debate,” Leanza said. Right-wing critics are forgetting that previous Republican FCC chairmen Michael Powell and Kevin Martin had each ordered studies of media without being characterized as attacking the independence of newsrooms, Leanza said.
Part of the function of the CIN studies was to provide data to meet court and congressional requirements on the FCC, said National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) Policy Director Michael Scurato. The Prometheus II decision of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals required the FCC to back up efforts to address diversity in ownership with hard data, and the commission is required to file triennial Communications Act Section 257 reports to Congress on barriers to entry in the communications industry. Without the CIN study data or some alternative, it may be difficult for the FCC to meet those requirements, said Scurato. “They have to figure something out.” Though the FCC did a good job in insulating itself from the CIN study, for perception purposes an independent outside entity would have been a better choice for overseeing the study, said Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President David Honig.
Starting over with a new study could be complicated, Scurato said. “This critical information needs design is the result of a year-long process,” he said. “Now it’s blown up -- getting another study off the ground would be equally time consuming and difficult.” NHMC and UCC are considering their options in the wake of the CIN studies’ cancellation, said Leanza and Scurato. If the FCC doesn’t come up with alternatives to satisfy its Section 257 and other obligations, the issue of the canceled CIN studies could return in a court challenge to FCC policy or a congressional hearing, said Scurato. -- Monty Tayloe, (mtayloe@warren-news.com)