Meredith Baker's Departure

[Commentary] With so many former Federal Communications Commission staff and commissioners around, there’s a real question about the value they bring to their employers.

By taking her leave so quickly without a decompression/career laundering period of six months or so at a think tank, FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker undoubtedly lowered her value to Comcast. Her legacy now will be bolting the FCC to go to Comcast and creating a mini-scandal, regardless whether she followed the letter of the admittedly lax rules on such things. The timing of Baker’s departure so soon after the Commission approved Comcast’s takeover of NBC falls into the category of “looks bad.” But looking bad isn't the same as being bad. Here’s what would be bad: if a commissioner who otherwise would have opposed the Comcast merger all of a sudden reversed himself or herself, voted for it and then a couple of months later went to Comcast.

The bottom line: On the morning of June 3, Meredith Attwell Baker will be one of five members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate with extraordinary powers over the telecommunications and broadcast systems in the US. On the evening of June 3, Meredith Attwell Baker will be just another lobbyist in a town full of lobbyists, just another former FCC commissioner in a town full of former FCC commissioners.