The Minneapolis Star-Tribune called for an FCC driven to support the public interest and hailed the purported nomination of Julius Genachowski for the Chair as a good first step. In a lot of ways, the paper’s editorial mirrors conventional wisdom on the motivations likely driving the Obama administration’s approach to the FCC, which basically involves close attention to internet, high tech and universal service issues. As far as broadcasting goes, the Star-Trib discussed getting the obvious issue of the day – DTV – right, and seemed to support abandonment of any further efforts to increase local station ownership caps. It did support a little understanding, however, in preserving newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership arrangement. Finally, the Star-Trib waded into what it called the “murky” matter of indecency; it stopped short of a prescription, wondering how one decides what was worse, the Jackson wardrobe malfunction or a show like “Dexter,” but said that former Chairman Kevin Martin was correct to push for cable a la carte, “if not for economic reasons, then for social ones.”
RBR/TVBR observation: How human – to accept boundaries for everybody else even while asking that the boundaries specifically affecting yourself be removed! At any rate, the Star-Trib has likely captured the new tone of Washington. The citizen will likely be king at the FCC for at least the next four years, while the corporation will be on the defensive.
