Digital transition in the US - and public duty

[Gregg Lengling]

The public interest accountability of the broadcast media should be scrutinized, especially with the ongoing transition to digital television, those are the views of FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, in remarks delivered to the Institute on Telecommunications Policy and Regulation on Thursday.

He said: "As we move into the new era, we should not abandon our public interest model that sustains localism, competition and diversity. Courts have consistently reaffirmed these priorities as central to the health of our democracy."

Adelstein pointed out the FCC already has undertaken a number of steps to accelerate the digital TV transition. "As we turn to the few remaining pieces, we should establish comprehensive public interest obligations for the digital era," he said.

Broadcasters have made the case that multi-cast carriage in a DTV world will further localism. "If so, there should be no reason why they cannot accept a localism requirement on all their digital program streams that gain the privilege of must-carry," Adelstein said.

The commissioner added, "As we saw this past year, Americans are very concerned about their media. The airwaves belong to the American people. Nowhere is it more important for us to preserve access to the airwaves as widely as possible. We should encourage a broad range of voices and viewpoints."

His full speech is available as a pdf from the FCC web site.