Law Commons^™

Overwhelmed By Big Consolidation: Bringing Back Regulation To Increase Diversity In Programming That Serves Minority Audiences, Caridad Austin

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Note addresses diversity in the media and the need for regulation that will enhance programming so that it is inclusive of minority audiences. It begins by analyzing the historical development of diversity in the media through landmark cases, such as Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, and it addresses the consolidating effects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC's 2003 Report and Order. It argues that despite technological growth, the FCC's open market regulatory approach of the last three decades has resulted in a lack of diverse perspectives in the media and that the FCC needs …

Attacking Brandenburg With History: Does The Long-Term Harm Of Biased Speech Justify A Criminal Statute Suppressing It?, Anuj C. Desai

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Destructive Messages: How Hate Speech Paves the Way for Harmful Social Movements, Alexander Tsesis, New York: New York University Press, 2002, 246 pages.

A review of Alexander Tsesis's Destructive Messages: How Hate Speech Paves the Way for Harmful Social Movements, New York University Press, 2002. At one level, Alexander Tsesis's thesis is simply one in a long line of arguments about the need to regulate racist speech. Yet on another level, it is fundamentally different from much American literature on "hate speech" because Tsesis draws on a broad historical swath, and because he contends that the United States …

The Fcc’S Financial Qualification Requirements: Economic Evaluation Of A Barrier To Entry For Minority Broadcasters, Yale M. Braunstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

When analyzing issues surrounding minority ownership of media, scholars have often noted that policy discussions in the area suffer from the linked problems of inadequate data and a lack of tools with which to analyze the data that do exist and might be collected. In Issue Three of Volume 51, several authors made this particular observation. To address this problem, This Article shows how one may use economic analysis and a financial model of a "typical" radio broadcaster to quantify the effects of specific policies. Specifically, the Article focuses on barriers to entry imposed by the FCC’s financial qualification requirements …

Equality In The Information Age, William E. Kennard

Federal Communications Law Journal

Forum: New Approaches to Minority Media Ownership, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University.

The Digital Dilemma: Ten Challenges Facing Minority-Owned New Media Ventures, Marcelino Ford-Livene

Federal Communications Law Journal

Minority-owned companies competing in print publishing, radio, broadcast television, cable, and telecommunications industries have had no shortage of challenges, setbacks, and failures. Minority-owned companies are struggling to stake a claim in the new media frontier. Some challenges they face are unique to the underlying technology, uncertainty, and international reach of the Web. There should be a sense of urgency with respect to minority participation on the Web. If the promise of broadband leads to new media outlets that are profitable and more dynamic than traditional media, then minorities cannot afford to be left out.

Forum: New Approaches to Minority Media …

Measuring The Nexus: The Relationship Between Minority Ownership And Broadcast Diversity After Metro Broadcasting, Allen S. Hammond, Iv

Federal Communications Law Journal

In Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, the Court found a nexus between minority ownership and diversity of viewpoint. The recent Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod v. FCC decision dismissed the government’s arguments that a nexus exists between minority employment in broadcast stations and greater diversity in broadcast programming, and that the government has an interest in fostering such diversity. Given the challenge of the Lutheran Church opinion and potentially significant changes in the regulation and operation of the broadcast market, sole reliance on Metro Broadcasting’s holdings may be ill advised and a new study documenting the continued existence of the …

The Fcc’S Minority Tax Certificate Program: A Proposal For Life After Death, Erwin G. Krasnow, Lisa M. Fowlkes

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 1995, Congress eliminated the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Minority Tax Certificate Program—a nonintrusive method of encouraging increased participation of minority entrepreneurs as owners in the broadcast and cable industries. Since that time, minorities have faced increased difficulties competing in all facets of the communications industry. These difficulties can be attributed to: (1) increased consolidation within the broadcast industry as a result of provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 relaxing certain broadcast ownership limitations; (2) recent court decisions adverse to minority-specific programs; and (3) continued obstacles faced by minorities in accessing sufficient capital to acquire licenses and compete in …

The Value Of The Tax Certificate, Kofi Asiedu Ofori, Mark Lloyd

Federal Communications Law Journal

Tax certificates are an example of successful incentive regulation. Prior to its repeal in 1995, section 1071 of the Internal Revenue Code permitted the tax-free sale or exchange of media properties to effectuate policies of the Federal Communications Commission. Enacted by Congress in 1943, this provision was originally used to soften the hardship created by involuntary sales of broadcast properties made necessary to reduce ownership concentration in the radio industry. In 1978, the tax certificate was used to promote goals to increase minority ownership of a variety of communications properties. This Article discusses the "value" of tax certificates as a …

Investment In Minority-Owned Media: A Social Investor’S Perspective, Lloyd Kurtz

Federal Communications Law Journal

Access to capital for minority media remains problematic in the pension and mutual fund world, even among those organizations that practice "socially responsible" investing. The reasons for this include the behavior traits of all institutional investors and the relatively undeveloped state of socially responsible investing. However, modern social research suggests that large media conglomerates, such as Disney, Time-Warner, and Viacom, might be potentially approachable sources of capital for minority media.

Forum: New Approaches to Minority Media Ownership, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University.

The Fcc's Minority Ownership Policies From Broadcasting To Pcs, Antoinette Cook Bush, Marc S. Martin

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) proposed minority preference scheme for broadcast spectrum allocation has been called into question in the wake of the Supreme Court(s recent decision in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena. The Authors begin by discussing the development of minority preference schemes in the 1970s and 1980s and the changes in the methods through which the FCC has awarded broadcast licenses. In 1993, the FCC was granted the authority to auction spectrum allocation, provided that the FCC ensured the economic opportunity of minority-owned business under such a competitive bidding regulatory regime. However, this grant of authority presented …

"Even My Own Mother Couldn't Recognize Me": Television News And Public Understanding, Jane Rhodes

Federal Communications Law Journal

Broadcast journalists face conflicting responsibilities: the need to attract a large audience through visually entertaining products versus the need to present information that enhances public understanding. The Author argues that the media's social responsibility has become blurred in recent years as competition within the broadcast industry has increased. To keep the ratings up, many journalists are trying to force information into catchy sound bites without thinking about how such dissemination distorts that information. The Author argues that in spite of the increasing competition faced by broadcast journalists, they need to examine their professional practice and personal biases closely, with an …