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Newsletter Issue: January 2, 2009

Six Steps Toward a Stronger, More Transparent, More Accountable FCC in theObama Era

Submitted by Benton Foundation onJanuary 2, 2009 - 2:20pm
Last updated: January 2, 2009 - 2:21pm

SIX STEPS TOWARD A STRONGER, MORE TRANSPARENT, MORE ACCOUNTABLE FCC IN THE OBAMA ERA

The Social Science Research Council offers six steps toward astronger, more accountable, more transparent Federal Communications Commission.

Data Disclosure: The FCC should mandate:

Full public disclosure of the datasets produced throughFCC-sponsored studies. Arguably, this is already required under the DataQuality Act. Full disclosure of third-party data used in research submitted informal FCC policy proceedings. Because of the heavy reliance of all parties oncommercially-collected data, the second recommendation is the most sweepingreform on our list. The restrictive terms of most commercial licenses greatlydistorts the policymaking process by forbidding disclosure or sharing of dataused in research—even, in many cases, with the FCC. Reform in this area wouldrequire innovation in licensing—possibly in the form of an FCC-mandated 'publicpolicy license' for datasets used in work formally submitted to the FCC. Such alicense would require disclosure and encourage independent evaluation, butprotect providers from unauthorized secondary commercial appropriation.

Content Archiving: Much of media policy is an effort to shape thecontent of the media, yet the current regulatory environment makes access toaudio-visual content difficult, haphazard, and expensive. The FCC should:Require broadcast licensees to provide thorough, accessible and reliablerecords of station programming and performance. Work with the Library ofCongress, the Copyright Office and other actors to create a modern regulatoryframework for audio-visual content archiving. Among the numerous benefits of amore complete audio-visual archive of American life: better research on themedia policy questions that involve content, from media diversity to news tochildren's programming.

Finally, the FCC should create an Advisory Committee on DataQuality, Integrity, and Access to advise the Commission on these and other dataissues over time.