Fighting the “Fairness Doctrine” Update
Pres.-elect Obama has selected Henry Rivera, a “Fairness Doctrine” supporter, to lead the search for the next FCC chairman:
Rivera is widely believed to support the reinstitution of the so-called Fairness Doctrine.
Since talk radio is overwhelmingly dominated by conservative hosts, and liberal talk radio draws few listeners, the “equal time” provision would likely force many radio stations to pull popular conservative hosts from the air rather than air low-rated liberal hosts.
Rivera served on the five-member FCC from 1981 to 1985 under Republican chairman Mark Fowler. His departure paved the way for the Fairness Doctrine’s repeal when President Ronald Reagan replace him with an opponent of the doctrine, Brian Maloney disclosed on his Web site The Radio Equalizer.
The FCC admitted before the repeal that the doctrine “had the net effect of reducing rather than enhancing the discussion of controversial issues of public importance.”
UPDATE 11-12:
From Business Week
Obama’s New Lobbying Rules May Affect FCC Chief Selection
Lobbyists take note. Today, President-elect Barack Obama released his new rules for lobbyists participating in his government transition. Here’s the bad news for many Washington insiders on his transition team: “If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied,” according to the rules.
What does this mean? Henry Rivera, an influential Washington lawyer who was expected to be key in selecting the next chairman of the Federal Communications Committee, may have to help Obama with something else, instead. Rivera may not be eligible for the post because he represented private clients in the telecom industry in the past 12 months. He may, instead, head another committee, possibly the search for the head of the National Science Foundation, a source tells BusinessWeek.com.