FCC Diversity Survey

Much of the conservative media is in an uproar because of a Federal Communications Commission proposed research project. As reported on GOPUSA, 

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in a Feb. 14 letter to congressional Republicans made public Thursday, defended the agency's proposed "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs" as part of its mandate to "promote the policies and purpose ... favoring diversity of media voices. The FCC contract proposal calls for government investigators to explore the process by which stories are selected, as well as perceived bias at individual stations and perceived responsiveness by reporters and editors to "underserved" populations.

But the prospect of a government agency monitoring newsgathering decisions and editorial control has infuriated some critics and even sparked a public condemnation from one of the Republican appointees to the FCC itself.

Mr. Wheeler insisted in his letter the FCC has "no intention" of interfering in the editorial decision-making of broadcast stations and newspapers, but many remain unconvinced.
"I think it's very onerous, it is a tremendous threat that they have in terms of the power of licensing," said Dr. Roger Soenksen, a professor of media arts and design at James Madison University.

The skeptics note that the FCC is in charge of granting operating licenses to radio and broadcast stations, and the new data could influence their decisions whose license is renewed in years to come.

"They could sit down at the end of the licensing period and say you only had 25 percent of the stories that were positive about government, and they could pull licenses because they think the stories are biased," he added.