FCC Releases Five Media Ownership Studies

Studies Assess Civic Engagement and Localism

The Federal Communications Commission today released five studies to be used in determining new media ownership rules. The five look at how ownership structures affect civic engagement, radio news consumption, minority radio programming, viewpoint diversity and the lack of local news on the Internet, according to a story by Deborah D. McAdams at televisionbroadcast.com.

The commission also made the unprecedented move of making available the proprietary data sets underlying the released studies and six more to come.

A protective order was issued outlining the procedures for accessing those data sets by “authorized representatives” of “reviewing parties,” i.e., legal counsel and their associated staffs, designated experts and whomever the commission selects “in the public interest.” These individuals will have to sign a declaration to abide by the protective order, which prohibits copying, governs disclosure and limits examination to FCC headquarters in Washington.

The commission said it intended to seek comment on all 11 studies, but the first five were released today to allow time for examination of the data sets. The studies were conducted by outside researchers designated by the commission, as are three more not yet available. The final two studies are being conducted by commission staff. All will be incorporated into the FCC’s Quadrennial Media Ownership Review proceeding, along with peer reviews and authors’ responses.

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