A Letter that Fails to Inform

[Commentary] I write not in glee but in disappointment over a letter that Reps Fred Upton and Greg Walden and 14 other Republican Members of the House sent to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler on December 10. The letter claims that the FCC is attempting to dictate content on the airwaves, reinstitute the “Fairness Doctrine” and undermine the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The signatories take particular aim at the idea that the FCC should be doing any research and analysis about the information needs of communities. In truth, the FCC clearly has both the statutory authorization and a judicial mandate to do what it is proposing to do. When the Upton-Walden letter charges that gathering needed information is nothing but an ill-disguised effort to stifle free speech and dictate content, it is ignoring history, Congressional mandate, and clear court commands. Certainly we can discuss the parameters of any study that is proposed. But that is very different from denying the Commission’s authority and responsibility to study and analyze how broadcast stations are performing their stewardship obligations.