It’s Time to Modernize America’s Media Regulations

By Robert M. McDowell, former FCC commissioner

Sweeping changes are coming to America’s legal and regulatory landscape starting Jan. 20. Within hours of taking the oath of office, Donald J. Trump will start appointing the heads of powerful administrative agencies, including my old stomping grounds, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Cheered on by an optimistic stock market, new Republican regulators are poised to act quickly to rewrite or outright repeal many regulations they view as obsolete and a drag on growth. A good place to start would be a comprehensive update of antiquated media regulations designed long before the rise of competition from cable, satellite TV, and radio, let alone the Internet and the explosion of over-the-top (OTT) content. Changing or eliminating some of these dusty and counterproductive rules is not only a good idea, it’s the law.

Over two decades ago, a large bipartisan majority in Congress passed section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Section 202(h) states quite clearly: “The Commission shall review…all of its ownership rules biennially … and shall determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as the result of competition. The Commission shall repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest.” (Emphasis added.)

While Bill Clinton campaigned for re-election that year on “building a bridge to the 21st Century,” Congress foresaw that a communications revolution was in the making and that the FCC needed not just a suggestion, but a congressional command, to modernize its media regulations. Congress’s directive was shouted loud and clear right when the “Information Superhighway” blossomed to create competition throughout the media space. Quite simply, with section 202(h), Congress and President Clinton expressed their will for the FCC to deregulate as more competition produces more consumer choices.

Yet, despite this clear bipartisan call for sensible deregulation, the FCC has not only retained most of its outdated 20th Century media rules, it has heaped more regulations onto the backs of broadcasters. Recent FCC actions have created market distortions through a regulatory asymmetry that hobbles broadcasters but not their competitors - all while ignoring the dynamic media market of the early 21st Century.

So, what should be at the top of the FCC’s modernization “to do” list? For starters, reform the newspaper/broadcast ownership ban. Adopted in 1975, the ban sticks out like a prominent proboscis begging for rhinoplasty. More than 400 newspapers have shuttered (nearly one quarter of the print newsrooms in America) since the inception of the ban. That means fewer reporters on the beat to cover city hall, state capitols and otherwise serve as a watchdog for society. Newspapers are weaker than at any time in American history. Their decline is due, in part, to the rise of competition from TV and radio broadcasting, cable and satellite TV and the recent explosion of online media sources. For example, seven in 10 American consumers regularly receive news on their computers and mobile devices. Clearly, this is the competition Congress had in mind when it required the FCC to eliminate outdated and needless rules. Yet the FCC has, for decades, failed to recognize these irrefutable trends.

Your Editor Applauds: The opportunity to make long needed changes