Communications Law Commons^™

Summing Up The Public Interest. Review Of Media Diversity And Localism: Meaning And Metrics, Victoria F. Phillips

PIJIP Faculty Scholarship

Philip Napoli's Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics is a thoughtful and first of its kind compilation of some of the ongoing research and scholarship examining the concepts of localism and diversity underlying the Federal Communications Commission's public interest standard in broadcasting. The collection of essays addresses these fundamental goals from a variety of disciplines beyond the law, including political science, communications policy, sociology, and economics. These essays explore the values associated with these two goals, apply performance metrics to assess existing regulatory policies intended to preserve and promote these goals, and reflect on their meaning in the new …

On Media Consolidation, The Public Interest, And Angels Earning Wings, Victoria F. Phillips

PIJIP Faculty Scholarship

In one of his first speeches soon after being sworn in as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael Powell bemoaned the lack of an angel's visit to give him a clearer understanding of the guiding standard in broadcast regulation - the public interest. Without a clear message as to the public interest, he declared the standard too vague.

Five years later, and now serving as Chairman, Powell leads the charge for even further deregulation of the already deregulated broadcast industry. The most recent FCC decision relaxed a wide range of media ownership regulations remaining on the books and …