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Adelstein: "The FCC's Legacy Does Not Make Us Proud"
 CHICAGO -- September 21, 2007: At Thursday's FCC media-ownership hearing in Chicago, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein began the proceeding by citing some local stats. "It is outrageous that Chicago, with all its diversity, has the lowest proportion of minority radio ownership of the nation's 22 largest markets," he said. "Roughly two-thirds of the people in the city are black and Hispanic, and over half are women. But they collectively own just 6 percent of TV and radio stations in the Chicago market."
Adelstein -- who is one of the scheduled speakers at Radio Ink's Forecast '08 Conference, set for December 4 in New York -- places the blame for the lack of ownership diversity, in Chicago and nationwide, squarely on FCC policies.
"In 2003, over my strong objection and that of my colleague Commissioner Copps, the commission changed the ownership rules to permit big media companies to get even bigger," he said. "Opportunities to promote small, female, and minority-owned businesses were cast aside."
Adelstein went on, "When it comes to ensuring that the composition of the people who use the public's airwaves to serve the American people also look like the American people, the FCC's legacy does not make us proud."
Adelstein called for "a comprehensive response to the lack of diversity in programming and ownership." He called on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the other FCC commissioners to create an independent, bipartisan panel to review policy recommendations from the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council and the FCC's own Diversity Committee.
Commissioner Michael Copps is also concerned with ownership diversity, saying at the meeting, "If we are smart about it, we will take whatever action we must to ensure that the public airwaves truly reflect and truly enhance the talents and aspirations of all of us."
After citing some discouraging statistics on female and minority media ownership, he said, "Is it any wonder why the depictions of minorities in our media are so often distorted? Why their issues get scant coverage? Why their contributions to the good things happening in America are so seldom even mentioned on the air? Let's be frank: Ownership matters. Truth be told, ownership rules."
Like Adelstein, Copps had some harsh words about past FCC policies, saying the commission has been "asleep at the switch" for years. "We need a system for license renewal that brings the bargain back to life, that enforces it by withholding licenses from those who aren't doing their jobs and ensures that the airwaves that belong to you are actually serving you," he said.
"I say to you and I say to my colleagues: It should be the top priority of the FCC to put some life back into our public oversight responsibilities. "
Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate also addressed media diversity, but from a different angle. "It is important to take into consideration the view and habits of the younger generation, or as I refer to them, the 'I-Generation' that grew up with the Internet," she said.
Tate said she asked a group of law students where they get their news and was surprised by the answer. "While some of the students continue to rely on local radio and television," she said, "the most significant response might have been one that we didn't even ask about: blogs.
"Today, the Internet enables individuals of any age to be writers, editors, and publishers of news. Whether in small towns or major media markets, people today, especially the I-Generation, continue to have access to more news and information outlets than ever before, not just here in the United States, but globally."
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