During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to “encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation’s spectrum.”
The bulk of this promise should be addressed by a quadrennial review of media ownership to be undertaken in 2010 by the Federal Communications Commission. To inform this review, the FCC has been holding a series of “media ownership workshops,” including one scheduled for Jan. 12, 2010. The workshops are open to the public and streamed live on the Internet.
Already, a task force advising the FCC on a report to Congress mandated by the economic stimulus bill has mentioned the issue of media ownership. The task force’s interim report said that “the spread of Internet access has undermined established media models but triggered an explosion in media innovation.” The final report to Congress, which is due Feb. 17, 2010, will “assess the impact of a universal broadband strategy on both commercial media and public media licensees.”
The quadrennial review was going to happen in 2010 regardless, but the decision to address media ownership in the report required by the stimulus shows that the administration is paying attention to this issue. So we’re rating this promise In the Works.