Benton Pushes Public Interest Deadline

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Benton Foundation Chairman Charles Benton has written the FCC asking it to "elevate" digital public-interest obligations on its agenda. "In three years, when analog TV is finally turned off, so too will broadcasters’ mandate to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity be left behind unless the Commission acts to extend meaningful obligations to the digital world," Benton wrote to FCC Chairman Martin. "I write today to ask that you bring clarity to the DTV transition. On a number of occasions, you have recognized the importance of defining the public interest. Now as FCC Chairman, you have an enormous opportunity, indeed a responsibility, to act." Some broadcasters have suggested they would be agreeable to some new digital TV public-interest obligations in return for digital multicast must-carry.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6308362?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
Benton's letter to Chairman Martin: http://www.benton.org/benton_files/bentonltr2-16-06.doc
Benton Press Release: http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1445