Inclusion or Illusion? An Analysis of the FCC's Public Hearings on Media Ownership 2006–2007

@article{Obar2010InclusionOI,
  title={Inclusion or Illusion? An Analysis of the FCC's Public Hearings on Media Ownership 2006–2007},
  author={Jonathan A. Obar and Amit M. Schejter},
  journal={Journal of Broadcasting \& Electronic Media},
  year={2010},
  volume={54},
  pages={212 - 227}
}
An assessment of the extent of public involvement in the FCC's media ownership hearings in 2006–07 was conducted through an analysis of the hearings' structure, the 732 public comments made in them, and the FCC's ensuing Report & Order (R&O). In light of the rising call for pluralism, direct democracy and public involvement in policy deliberations, the results reveal that the FCC consistently hindered public participation in the hearing process it initiated and managed through limited advance… 
View on Taylor & Francis
scholarsphere.psu.edu
10 Citations
Background Citations
4
Methods Citations
2

10 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Translation in the Media Ownership Debate: The Work of Civil Society Groups and the Federal Communications Commission, 2002–2007
This article examines the concept of translation, which refers to the work of civil society and state actors in linking the discursive activities of publics inside and outside the rule-making system.…
Rhetoric and Reporting of Public Participation in Landscape Policy
The involvement of the public in decision-making is established as a key feature of many planning policies. However, there is evidence from the literature of a prevailing gap between participation…
Net Neutrality| Closing the Technocratic Divide? Activist Intermediaries, Digital Form Letters, and Public Involvement in FCC Policy Making
Building upon research suggesting activists enhance public involvement in technocratic policy-making processes through forms of digital intermediation, this study investigates the extent to which…
Net Neutrality| Wonkish Populism in Media Advocacy and Net Neutrality Policy Making
This article identifies a discursive tactic in media policy advocacy it calls wonkish populism and describes some of its features and operations as evident in the net neutrality debates. Wonkish…
TELL IT NOT IN HARRISBURG, PUBLISH IT NOT IN THE STREETS OF TAMPA
A framing analysis was performed on 22 local news reports identified in 90 newscasts carried by television stations covering the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) public hearings on media…
Local Press Politics
This project examines the lobbying efforts of state and regional print media associations in the United States. The analysis is primarily concerned with two aspects of newspaper association lobbying:…
Lost in translation? theorizing public influence on policymaking via the 2018 net neutrality repeal
ABSTRACT This article examines the role of the public in media policymaking through the lens of the 2018 U.S. net neutrality repeal. I begin by outlining a framework for conceptualizing public…
After the vote: climate policy decision-making in the administrative state
Attempting to reduce uncertainty: lobbying in a competitive communications environment
In an effort to reduce regulatory uncertainty, this study examines if the broadcast and wireless industries have changed, or are changing, lobbying practices. Using resource dependence theory, the…
Studying Power with the Social-Ecological System Framework
A long-standing divide exists among social scientists regarding power and its effects on the sustainability of social-ecological systems (SESs). In some disciplines, such as political ecology, power…

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 35 REFERENCES
Media Policy Goes to Main Street: The Uprising of 2003
In this article, I chronicle the uprising of 2003, when media policy absolutely exploded into the public consciousness as millions of Americans registered their opposition to the relaxation of…
Political Issue or Policy Matter?
Throughout the third biennial review of broadcast ownership rules, it became clear that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) handled the issue as a policy matter, limiting the debate within…
A first step: The FCC's investigation into newspaper ownership of radio stations
This historical account examines the Federal Communications Commission's investigation and hearings into newspaper ownership of radio stations. The hearing, which lasted from 1941 to 1944, were the…
Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation
This review analyses a pioneering report on the instruments and strategies for the development of online political participation and deliberation, produced by Coleman and Gøtze, two well-renowned…
A Typology of Public Engagement Mechanisms
Imprecise definition of key terms in the “public participation” domain have hindered the conduct of good research and militated against the development and implementation of effective participation…
Citizen participation and the democratization of policy expertise: From theoretical inquiry to practical cases
This article examines the case for a participatory policy analysis. An idea advanced mainly by democratic and postpositivist theorists is increasingly becoming a practical concern. Criticizing…
Bringing the Mountain to the Public: Dilemmas and Contradictions in the Procedures of Public Deliberation Initiatives That Aim to Get “Ordinary Citizens” to Deliberate Policy Issues
Engaging “ordinary” citizens in public deliberations on policy issues raises both theoretical and pragmatic issues. Theorists have delineated a series of broad normative conditions for such…
A Public Interest Perspective on the Impact of the Broadcasting Provisions of the 1996 Act
This article was part of a symposium on the Tenth Anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It addresses three provisions relating to broadcasting: 1) Section 201, which added a new Section…
Foundations of communications policy : principles and process in the regulation of electronic media
Part 1 Introduction: Plan of the Book. Part 2 Foundation Principles and Communications Policymaking: The Unique Nature of Communications Regulation The Extended Potential Influence of Communications…
Evaluating Public-Participation Exercises: A Research Agenda
The concept of public participation is one of growing interest in the UK and elsewhere, with a commensurate growth in mechanisms to enable this. The merits of participation, however, are difficult to…
...
...