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A different media world is possible. What if the FCC truly regulated in the public interest, creating policies and services that promoted community voices and civic values? It does happen occasionally, but not often enough.
It’s easy to assume our media system turned out this way because it was inevitable, but in truth it was the result of hundreds, even thousands of decisions, at all levels of government, influenced by multitudes of actors, from major corporations to community media activists. That means there have been, and still are, many opportunities for change, and improvement.
But what would that revitalized FCC look like? Matthew Lasar has some ideas, based upon his years of researching the Commission, going back to its pre-cursor, the Federal Radio Commission, created by President Herbert Hoover, a Republican who opposed privatization of the airwaves and believed in a robust public service obligation. Matthew’s suggestions may not be what you think. We invite you fantasize along with us.
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Show Notes:
- The Communications Act of 1934
- The Federal Radio Commission
- Herbert Hoover’s four warnings about radio
- Washington Post: Everything you need to know about the Fairness Doctrine in one post
- TIME: A Brief History of the Fairness Doctrine
- The decade’s most important radio trends: #8 The Great Fairness Doctrine Panic
- A “distraction” that won’t go away: FCC drops Fairness Doctrine again
- Wikipedia: Floyd R. Turbo
- How Stuff Works: How FCC Auctions Work
- American Archive of Public Broadcasting: Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
- Current: A look back at a pivotal moment for public broadcasting
- Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, by Ryan H. Walsh
- The Stark Reality – “The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop“
- Young Howard Zinn on WGBH’s “What’s Happening Mr. Silver?”
