The FCC

1. Do broadcasters use radio and television to quickly and effectively respond to the local communities needs and interests? Give examples to support your answer.

Television largely does not respond to local communities’ needs and interests. Most Television networks are owned by large corporations that have more to gain from catering to the interests of as many viewers as possible at once which makes addressing interests of the local community almost impossible. There are some public access stations but they seem to be mostly an empty gesture. Local public access channels generally serve the purpose of humoring high school or college students looking to practice their broadcasting skills. Rarely do my local public access channels address the real concerns of the community.

Radio stations address community interests more than television. Radio stations broadcast over a much smaller area than television stations and can provide more audience-specific information. The audience is often encouraged to call in and give feedback. Despite these things, however, most of the bigger radio stations have frequencies that broadcast over the area of multiple communities and so often the information isn’t specific to an individuals particular community. Additionally, the information broadcasted by radio often mimics the messages of the more impersonal television media.

2. Are there certain kinds of local programming (Public Media Values) that should be available, but are not being provided by broadcasters? what could some examples of these be?

Mainstream media has a vested interested in fighting open access to the airwaves because allowing broader access to the media could destabilize the old media system by which mainstream media corporations benefit. The smart radio that Newman and Scott reference could be one way of making public media values available. Smart radios would allow for the representation of communities which are underrepresented (if represented at all) in mainstream media.

3. What could the Federal Communication Commission do to promote localism in broadcasting? Explain three of these examples of public-service-oriented projects that are already in process across the US.

In an attempt to provide affordable and ubiquitous access to media a municipal broadband systems and community wireless network project seems to be one of the most promising routes. One of the largest endeavors is Utah’s UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency) project. Utah proposes the installation of fiber-optic cables in the homes of its citizens that allows for the capability of high-speed digital television and telephone services. Another public-service-oriented project in the works are community wireless networks that would allow access to broadband information in especially rural areas, for example, where there are not yet any wired networks. These public-service-oriented projects are important because without the help of local governments it will be impossible for all Americans to obtain affordable telecommunication services.