Clyburn Dissents From FCC Rollback of Media Rules, Criticizes Main Studio NPRM
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was critical of both media items approved by the FCC Thursday, dissenting from only the public notice on review of media regulations. “In the case of this PN, the FCC’s majority starts with a premise that advancing the public interest can only be achieved by clearing the books of rules for the benefit of industry,” Clyburn said after the 2-1 vote. She voted in favor of the NPRM seeking comment on eliminating the main studio rule for broadcasters but expressed reservations about its effect on localism.
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Speaking to reporters on several recent items, including Thursday’s (see 1705180029), Clyburn said the FCC needs to weigh the impact of deregulation on citizens and communities. Under the current administration, the agency has increasingly taken the stance that “everything industry presents, every posture they take, is the right one,” she said. The FCC “runs the risk of not upholding the standard we’re supposed to,” she said.
“A rule that might have been necessary at one time can become yellowed and obsolete with age,” said Chairman Ajit Pai on the media review rule. “One of the most powerful forces in government is regulatory inertia.”
The media review PN “seeks to reduce regulations that can stand in the way of competition, innovation, and investment in the media marketplace” and asks for comments on regulations that can be changed to aid small businesses, according to the Media Bureau. The PN “is very general, soliciting comment on a number of topics,” said acting Chief Michelle Carey in response to our question. She said a broad spectrum of media issues is on the table, including retransmission consent.
Although the final NPRM hasn’t been released, the draft version excepted media ownership from the review because a 2018 quadrennial proceeding will look at those rules. Media attorneys believe the review will be more focused on clearing “regulatory underbrush” -- obscure rules that no longer apply or are duplicative -- and they expect attempts to spur deregulation on larger issues, such as retrans. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly identified a number of rules he would like to see go, such as what he sees as unnecessary forms and notification requirements. “The commission should not be in the business of generating busywork or collecting reams of data no one ever looks at,” he said.
O’Rielly disagreed with Clyburn’s pro-industry characterization of the media review PN. “I find the item to be straightforward,” he said, disputing it presupposes that “everything must go.” Some FCC watchers may “claim” she's overreacting and that the agency won’t eliminate media rules important to the public interest, Clyburn said in her statement on the media review item: “It is important to sound the alarm, and remind my colleagues that our job is to protect the public interest, not give perpetual hall passes to big broadcast and cable companies.”
The NPRM on eliminating the main studio rule proposes to eliminate the requirement that AM, FM and TV stations have a main studio in or near their local community of license, and also to eliminate requirements for staffing at that facility and that it be able to originate local programming, the bureau said. Clyburn is open to eliminating the main studio rule if it will help “small market” stations “keep the lights on” but doesn’t think the rule should be broadly eliminated for all broadcasters because it would be a blow to localism not to have “boots on the ground” she said. Though she voted for the NPRM, she wouldn’t support “a blanket rule,” she said. The main studio rule “appears outdated, unnecessary, and unduly burdensome,” said Pai. “Community access and engagement remain important in the digital era, but technology has rendered physical studios unnecessary for those purposes” because “such activities are much more likely to occur via social media, email or phone,” Pai said.
NCTA said it welcomes "FCC review of outdated rules that were written many years ago and don’t reflect today’s competitive media landscape.” The American Cable Association looks "forward to working with all the FCC commissioners on eliminating those media regulations that deserve it,” said a spokesman. America's Public Television Stations praised both votes. "Countless rules are decades old, with no relevance in the modern media world," said APTS CEO Patrick Butler. "The prudent reform of these rules will give public television stations an opportunity to invest more time and resources in local service and less in ensuring compliance with anachronistic regulations."