FCC Commissioner Wantsto Test the 'Public Value'of Every Broadcast Station

Cybercast News Service ^ | 12/3/10 | Susan Jones

[Nachum]

(CNSNews.com) - American journalism is in "grave peril," FCC Commissioner Michael Copps says, and to bolster "traditional media," he said the Federal Communications Commission should conduct a "public value test" of every commercial broadcast station at relicensing time.

In a speech at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York on Thursday, Copps also said station relicensing should happen every four years instead of the current eight.

"If a station passes the Public Value Test, it of course keeps the license it has earned to use the people’s airwaves," Copps said. "If not, it goes on probation for a year, renewable for an additional year if it demonstrates measurable progress. If the station fails again, give the license to someone who will use it to serve the public interest."

[TomGuy]

Can they do that with cable channels too?

I can think of about 40 I’d like removed for lack of interest.

[SMARTY]

They’ll work that out as they go along.

[Nachum]

Ah, I get it. Destroying the banking industry, taking over the auto industry, oil, food, air travel, socialized medicine, and ruining the currency was just a warm up to crushing freedom of speech.

[mountainlion]

Elected employs should be tested for Public ethics.

[A. Morgan]

Congress MUST cut FCC funding next year to reign in another out of control agency!

[dforest]

I despise these people. Notice he uses the word “progress”

We all know what that means. Not to mention those stations will fail if the FCC imposes unpopular programming on them.

[docbnj]

I suppose that if a station is making money, that tells nothing about its “public value.” A government commission is necessary to determine public value! This is pure socialism grading into totalitarianism, and I say to hell with it!

[The Comedian]

"the people’s airwaves".

I-am-a-communist-tool Alert. He means "the government's airwaves", but can't say it because it's too honest.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Irenic]

I have a better idea. Let’s test the “public value” of the FCC.

Is the FCC sustainable?
________________________________________________-
AMEN!!!!!

[FrankR]

I got out of radio in 1981, but if the policies are still the same, each station must renew their license about every three years; it amounts to a mountain of paperwork - probably a 1 to 2 inch stack of forms on which you have to 'fess all to the FCC.

Insofar as stations are licensed for "public service", we had to not only promise what we were going to do for the next three years to fullfill that promise, but also what we HAD DONE for the past three years since the last license renewal.

Now given that scenario - or any updated similar scenario - every US Radio stations asserts its "public value" to the government every three years, not to mention a hefty license reneweal FEE.

Now, given that, either the FCC has the work ethic of the DOT and never bothers to read those reams of documents, OR...the are just out once again to GET RUSH.

Methinks it is the latter.

[Irenic]

“If a station passes the Public Value Test, it of course keeps the license it has earned to use the people’s airwaves,”
_________________________________________________
Hugo Chavez

[November 2010]

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
_______________________________________

Scary stuff. Sieg Heil Meister Copps.

[CygnusTheSwan]

clearly he has no idea how many people Beck and Limbaugh can turn out into the streets of D.C. if they choose to go to Defcon 5


Totally agree, that would be something to see,wouldn't it?

On a nickpickity point, it's really DefCon 1 that you mean, DefCon 5 is lowest and goes up from there.

[BubbaJunebug]

This is right out of the Opendemocracy.net handbook...tools of george soros...who would have thunk it.

This is already happening in the UK

[ncpatriot]

do we really need the FCC?

what good purpose does it provide?

[opentalk]

Bump!

[Irenic]

There’s no guessing about it, Obama has loaded his administration with communist folk. SOOooo many are connected to Abner J. Mikva, even Julius at the FCC. Mikva is even directly connected to Saul Alinsky.

I had started researching the guy and found this blog, it pretty much has everything...(I found a bit more but this blog has most of it)
http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2010/05/obama-file-103-barack-obamas.html

Maybe everybody knew and has read this already but it was new to me.

[BFM]

And the almighty FCC shall determine what is and shall be good throughout the land.

Silence... The Almighty Oz has spoken.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Public value"

I saw an excerpt from an interview where he expanded on this topic, and it sounds like "public value" means "working with the community" (e.g., liberal activist groups) in order to insure that the community's "needs" are being met. The FCC will also undoubtedly invoke "diversity" as a criteria that needs to be met, which will also mean cow-towing to liberal interest groups and minority groups. In short, they will give these liberal organizations some sort of censorship role, or require that stations carry programming that these groups insist on and approve of.

[nutmeg]

clearly he has no idea how many people Beck and Limbaugh can turn out into the streets of D.C. if they choose to go to Defcon 5

AMEN, Buckeye McFrog! ;-)