Civil Rights Groups Call for FCC Action on Diversity Studies

Civil rights groups are pressing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to finally commission court-ordered diversity studies before he heads for he steps down from the FCC. He is expected to leave within the next several weeks.

Chairman Genachowski agreed to hold off on voting his media ownership proposal until a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council study on the effects of cross-ownership rules was completed, but that is separate from the series of diversity studies the FCC is supposed to conduct to inform and justify diversity initiatives. According to the groups, they have had meetings with FCC staffers that indicate the studies are ready to be put out for public comment on structure and methodology. They want that process to go forward ASAP, and not to be trumped by a single study. "While we support the Commission's apparent desire not to rush to an imperfect decision in the Quadrennial Review docket," they wrote, "we are concerned that the decision to await input from a single, narrowly focused, study before the Commission makes a decision in the Quadrennial Review docket could further delay the comprehensive studies." Also signing on to the letter were the American Civil Liberties Union, Asian American Justice Center, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, National Urban League, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, National Consumer Law Center, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Organization for Women Foundation, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the United Church of Christ, Office of Communication.