Reflections on 50 years of representing local TV broadcasting

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[Commentary] In my more than 50 years of representing local television broadcasters at the Federal Communications Commission, in Congress, before the courts and in dealings with related industries, I have been struck by the indifference and at times downright hostility directed at local television stations, and, by implication, their viewers, and by the damage this attitude continues to cause. Denigration of local broadcasting causes two serious harms. First, the FCC and Congress erode local broadcasting’s ability to provide the local/national service on which the public relies and to adapt that service to new technologies, new viewer needs and an ever-changing business environment. Second, a knee-jerk negativity toward broadcasters’ policy positions means that regulators make policy choices that seriously damage the public that regulators have pledged to serve.

Not all problems can be cured by government fiat. What is most needed is a change in attitude. This is just as true for private parties and public interest groups as for the government.

[Blake is a retired partner of the law firm Covington & Burling where he headed the firm's Communications and Media practice, chaired the firm's management committee,and was president of the Federal Communications Bar Association]


Reflections on 50 years of representing local TV broadcasting