Public Tells FCC How to Shape Our Media Future

The FCC’s call for public comment about the future of the media has opened up a national discourse with citizens submitting a wide range of concerns about our media system. As the May 7th deadline approaches – you can still add your own comments – we examined a handful of the submissions from a diverse spectrum of groups, and identified several broad themes:

Changing News Media Landscape

News media is evolving like never before. A consumer can choose from a proliferation of news channels, or turn to any of thousands of online news sources. The comments submitted to the FCC suggest that it approach the rapidly changing news media landscape with at least two things in mind: the consolidation of media, and the fear that individuals will only consume news that aligns with their opinions.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) wrote:

The impact of media consolidation on distribution and access to diverse content on broadcast and cable platforms evidences a clear tendency by media conglomerates to favor self-owned or affiliated content. It is reasonable to conclude that if left unfettered, the same conglomerates will also act on opportunities to favor self-owned or other major conglomerate news, information, and programming over independent sources.

Rami Khater and Rachel Schaffer, M.A. candidates at Georgetown University, wrote:

Today… individuals can identify niche news sources that allow ‘news information’ to be delivered through voices that echo their own thoughts on a given subject. This contributes to a segmented society and furthers a future in which media no longer serves as a ‘common meeting ground.’

Accessibility

Some of the groups urged the FCC to ensure a future with wide-ranging and equal access to both content delivery mechanisms (the Internet, cable television, etc.) and content itself (live news updates, e-books, blogs, etc.). They argued that in an increasingly digital world, with online newspapers and e-journalism becoming a permanent part of the news industry, access to the Internet and access to content is essential for every American.

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications (RERC-TA) is encouraging the FCC to change captioning rules so that caption viewers “have full access to televised news and information.” They wrote:

Current FCC rules allow the vast majority of local news stations in America to provide closed captioning via electronic newsroom reporting (i.e., via teleprompter scripts). This form of captioning omits live news updates and field reports that are critical to news broadcasting.

The Students of Media Who Want Change (Towson University) wrote that, “[The Internet] should be made available to everyone.”

And in their call for a national broadband policy, the American Library Association (ALA) argues that, “The rapid digitization of media has made ubiquitous and affordable public access to high-speed digital communications a requisite, not an option.”

As we see with the proposed Comcast-NBCUniversal merger, the future of content is tied to the future of distribution. As more news moves online, access to the Internet is increasingly an issue of access to fundamental information about our communities, our nation and our society.

Net Neutrality

Much of the unfettered innovation and access to information we see on the Internet today might be threatened if the FCC fails to protect Net Neutrality. Many comments encouraged the FCC to establish a set of rules that would prevent ISPs from interfering with the content streaming through the Internet.

The Georgetown students Khater and Schaffer wrote:

We suggest that a theme that underlies all of the trends in the future of information is a staggering degree of openness – and this nondiscriminatory mindset must be applied to the networks on which the content is provided and consumed in order for access to remain unfettered.

And IFTA said, “It is critical that the same conglomerates that have consolidated and controlled traditional media are not allowed to act as gatekeepers for the Internet as it evolves into a dominate distribution platform.”

For more information about FCC’s initiative on the future of media, visit http://reboot.fcc.gov/futureofmedia/. If you want to add your own voice or respond to these comments you can submit your comments directly to the FCC.

Shelby Kinney-Lang is an intern at Free Press in Northampton, MA, and attends the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Free Press does not support or oppose any candidate for public office. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media and universal access to communications.