Sep 20, 2006 -- CLC Urges Full Investigation of Pattern of FCC Study Suppression

The Campaign Legal Center is urging a full investigation into reports that studies conducted by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staff have been routinely suppressed and destroyed when their findings do not coincide with the views of Commissioners. In a letter today to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the Legal Center pushed for a comprehensive review of the allegations of this practice by the Inspector General's office.

The practice of recalling and destroying staff reports initially surfaced in Chairman Martin's Senate confirmation hearings. Subsequently, former FCC staff members have been quoted as saying that the disquieting practice was not an anomaly, and in fact has occurred before when staff findings deviated from the positions of Commissioners.

A second recalled report has since come to light and Chairman Martin has asked the Inspector General to investigate the suppression of both studies. The Legal Center is calling for a more comprehensive investigation of what appears to be a systemic problem at the FCC of stifling inconvenient facts.

The full letter to Chairman Martin is below.

September 20, 2006

The Honorable Kevin Martin
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington , DC 20554

Dear Chairman Martin:

At your recent confirmation hearing, it was revealed that a study, conducted by staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the impact of greater concentration of media ownership on local television news coverage, was deliberately kept from the public and copies were actually recalled from the staff and destroyed. The suppression of a second report on the radio industry has since come to light, but even more disturbing is the fact that former staff members have told reporters that the practice of discarding reports that do not further the policy goals of commissioners is not uncommon. This censorship, which on the surface would appear to represent a longstanding and systemic problem, deserves your immediate attention and a formal investigation by the Inspector General.

I know that you have already asked the Inspector General to investigate the circumstances surrounding the censorship of both of the reports but in the public interest, that investigation must go deeper. The investigation must include a full review of the reported pattern of report quashing at the Commission. While that investigation is being conducted I strongly urge you as Chairman to instruct all employees at the Commission that suppression of any findings will not be tolerated.

I am encouraged to see that both reports have belatedly seen the light of day and have been introduced into the record for both the Commission's open localism and media ownership proceedings. The continuing pertinence of these two- and three-year-old documents that were quashed clearly shows the importance of conducting a careful and impartial inquiry into its original disappearance and the accusations that other reports have met similar fates.

The Campaign Legal Center strongly believes that a robust democracy is dependent on an informed electorate. We are also keenly aware of the key role that broadcast outlets in particular play in our nation's current political dialogue. While the Legal Center has not taken a position on specific media ownership proposals, we believe it is very important for these decisions to be made with full and accurate information about the impact new media ownership rules will have on broadcasters and, more importantly, on viewers who are best served by having both greater supply of information about civic and local affairs and a variety of sources for information.

Studies repeatedly show that local television is the main source for Americans for political news. Fulfilling the commitment to localism and to a generous supply of information about local civic and electoral affairs should be a significant factor in the FCC's decisions regarding media ownership. The suppression of a study which shows that local news suffers when local ownership is diluted is of particularly serious concern.

The Legal Center strongly urges you to expand your investigation request to the Inspector General to include a full review of all of these disquieting allegations, particularly those that point to systemic censorship at the FCC, to ensure that information gathered by the FCC for use in proceedings is made public. Just as it is vitally important to ensure that a wide diversity of views and information is available to the American public as you consider the rules for media ownership, it is also pivotal that the work of the FCC is conducted out in the open.

Sincerely,

Meredith McGehee
Policy Director

cc: House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation