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 UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
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 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 
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 FIELD  HEARING 
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 BROADCAST  LOCALISM  HEARING 
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 CHARLOTTE,  NORTH  CAROLINA 
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 CHAIRMAN  POWELL  PRESIDING 
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 WEDNESDAY,  OCTOBER  22,  2003 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  2 
 I  N  D  E  X 
 Statements: 
 Mayor  Patrick  McCrory.....................  4 
 Representative  Mel  Watt...................  23 
 Representative  Michael  Price.............. 
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 Opening  Statements: 
 Michael  K.  Powell,  Chairman  ...............  9 
 Michael  J.  Copps,  Commissioner  ............  13 
 Jonathan  S.  Adelstein,  Commissioner  .......  17 
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 
 Panel  One  Discussion:  Localism  Issues 
 Jim  Keelor,  President  &  COO,  Liberty  Corporation  ...............................  32 


 Debbie  Kwei,  General  Manager,  WCHH-  FM  ...................................  34 
 Tift  Merritt,  Singer/  Songwriter  ...........  37 
 Joan  Siefert  Rose,  General  Manager,  WUNC-  FM  ...................................  42 


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 Commissioner  and  Audience  Questions:  ...........  64 
 Break:  .........................................  126 


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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  3 
 I  N  D  E  X  (Cont.  d) 
 Panel  Two  Discussion:  Localism  Issues 
 Terri  Avery,  Operations  Manager,  Program  Director,  WBAV-  FM  .................  127 


 Jim  Goodmon,  President  and  CEO,  Capitol  Broadcasting  Company  ..............  129 
 Mary  Klenz,  Co-  president,  League  of  Women  Voters  ....................  133 
 John  Rustin,  Director,  Government  Relations,  North  Carolina  Family  Policy  Council  ......  135 
 Michael  Ward,  General  Manager,  WNCN-  TV  ...................................  138 
 Commissioner  and  Audience  Questions:  ...........  141 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  4 
 P  R  O  C  E  E  D  I  N  G  S  1 
 5:  35  P.  M.  2 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Good  evening,  Ladies  and  3 
 Gentlemen,  and  welcome  to  the  first  public  hearing  of  the  4 
 Federal  Communications  Commission  on  localism  in  5 
 broadcasting.  6 
 This  event  also  serves  as  a  fact-  gathering  inquiry  7 
 to  coincide  with  your  local  broadcasters  licenses  coming  up  8 
 for  FCC  renewal,  as  they  do  every  eight  years.  9 
 My  name  is  Michael  Powell;  I  serve  as  chairman  of  10 
 the  Federal  Communications  Commission.  I  am  joined  by  my  11 
 two  distinguished  colleagues,  to  my  right,  Commissioner  Mike  12 
 Copps,  and  to  my  left,  Commissioner  Jonathan  Adelstein.  13 
 I  also  want  to  express  my  regrets  that  our  other  14 
 two  colleagues  cannot  be  here,  Commissioner  Abernathy,  who  15 
 has  an  illness  in  the  family,  and  Commissioner  Martin,  who  16 
 has  another  commitment.  17 
 Before  we  get  started  in  earnest,  I  have  the  18 
 distinct  pleasure  of  introducing  the  Mayor  of  Charlotte  who  19 
 has  been  terrific  in  bringing  us  to  his  town,  the  Honorable  20 
 Patrick  McCrory.  Mayor?  21 
 MAYOR  McCRORY:  Mr.  Chairman,  Commissioners,  22 
 welcome  to  Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  And  I  also,  Mr.  23 
 Chairman,  need  to  also  give  my  best  to  the  Secretary  of  24 
 State  and  just  let  him  know  that  we  really  appreciate  not  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  5 
 only  the  work  he's  doing  for  our  country  and  for  our  world,  1 
 but  we  also  want  to  let  him  know  we  haven't  forgotten  about  2 
 America's  Promise.  He's  been  very  active  in  our  local  3 
 America's  Promise  efforts,  and  we  really  do  appreciate  that  4 
 very  much.  5 
 On  behalf  of  the  City  of  Charlotte  we'd  like  to  6 
 welcome  you  to  the  19th  largest  city  in  the  United  States  of  7 
 America,  the  second  largest  financial  center,  and  the  home  8 
 of  the  almost  undefeated  Carolina  Panthers,  and  home  in  the  9 
 near  future  to  the  Charlotte  Bobcats,  and  also  I  must  also  10 
 say  the  Charlotte  49er  basketball  team.  11 
 But  it's  a  city  we're  very,  very  proud  of.  We  12 
 have  a  population  of  610,000  people  in  an  area  of  about  280  13 
 square  miles.  And  your  job  is  very  important  for  Charlotte  14 
 and  our  future  because  communications  and  the  media  and  the  15 
 interaction  with  the  public  is  a  very,  very  important  16 
 priority  for  us  all,  as  it  is  in  most  cities.  17 
 As  the  hearings  unfold  today  you  are  going  to  hear  18 
 from  many  voices  because  Charlotte  is  not  afraid  to  speak  19 
 out,  but  we  will  do  it  in  a  very,  very  professional  and  20 
 respectable  way.  21 
 I  would  like  to  make  you  aware  I  also  represent  22 
 mayors  from  throughout  the  country  as  a  member  of  the  Board  23 
 of  Directors  of  the  U.  S.  Conference  of  Mayors.  And  I  just  24 
 want  to  briefly  take  advantage  of  this  welcome,  if  you  don't  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  6 
 mind,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  mention  two  issues  that  are  important  1 
 to  this  mayor  and  also  mayors  throughout  the  nation,  and  2 
 that  is  especially  with  the  issue  of  homeland  security.  3 
 At  this  point  in  time  we  need  to  solve  the  4 
 interference  issue  so  channels  for  our  emergency  responders  5 
 are  no  longer  intermingled  among  and  adjacent  to  commercial  6 
 channels.  This  is  extremely  important  to  our  first  7 
 responders  in  this  region  and  throughout  the  regions  8 
 throughout  the  United  States.  9 
 Your  support  of  the  consensus  plan  which  is  10 
 supported  by  all  of  the  top  organizations  of  the  first  11 
 responders'  profession  will  help  enhance  public  safety  by  12 
 realigning  the  800  megahertz  system  into  two  distinct  13 
 blocks,  with  one  for  public  safety  and  the  other  one  for  14 
 wireless  carriers.  15 
 This  will  virtually  eliminate  any  chance  of  16 
 interference,  and  once  again  provide  reliability  in  the  17 
 first  responder  communication  system  without  costing  local  18 
 governments  millions  of  dollars.  19 
 As  a  member  of  --  as  a  new  member  of  Secretary  20 
 Ridge's  Homeland  Security  Commission,  communications  is  one  21 
 of  the  most  vital  parts  of  homeland  security,  and  your  role  22 
 in  that  effort  is  very,  very  important  to  us  all.  So  I  ask  23 
 for  your  support  of  the  consensus  plan  and  the  subsequent  24 
 funding  to  address  this  homeland  security  issue.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  7 
 In  addition  to  the  public  radio  spectrum  issue,  1 
 your  rule-  making  decisions  in  the  area  of  cable  modems  and  2 
 internet  service  will  have  a  direct  impact  on  the  financial  3 
 well  being  of  cities  throughout  the  United  States.  4 
 Local  governments  are  presently  unable  to  collect  5 
 franchise  fees  because  of  a  recent  ruling  in  2002  6 
 classifying  cable  modem  services  as  information  rather  than  7 
 cable  or  telecommunications  services.  This  is  talking  about  8 
 our  right-  of-  ways  which  has  been  our  property  which  we  get  a  9 
 fair  return  of  dollars  for.  And  that  basically  renews  that  10 
 while  at  the  same  time  we're  getting  many  unfunded  mandates  11 
 from  the  Federal  Government.  We're  having  our  revenue  12 
 stream  taken  away  from  cities  throughout  the  United  States.  13 
 This  has  caught  us  quite  off-  guard,  and  in  14 
 Charlotte  alone  reduces  revenues  from  the  $5  million  we  15 
 currently  collect  from  cable  franchises.  16 
 I'm  worried  about  the  slippery  slope  of  unfunded  17 
 mandates  that  will  continue  to  happen,  in  addition  to  the  18 
 slippery  slope  of  what's  next  regarding  taking  funding  away  19 
 from  getting  money  from  our  right-  of-  ways.  I  did  want  to  20 
 make  you  aware  of  that,  although  I  know  you're  here  to  talk  21 
 about  primarily  some  other  issues  of  important  legislation,  22 
 and  I  do  want  to  recognize  that.  23 
 I  do  want  to  say  something  about  our  media  outlets  24 
 here  in  Charlotte.  Overall  I  want  to  compliment  them  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  8 
 because  they've  been  extremely  responsive  in  most  cases  to  1 
 our  public  needs,  especially  during  emergencies.  2 
 Even  on  9-  11  we  had  incredible  evacuation  from  our  3 
 high  rise  towers  because  we  are  the  second  financial  center  4 
 in  the  United  States,  and  most  people  don't  realize  that.  5 
 But  on  9-  11  we  had  people  evacuating  our  high  rise  buildings  6 
 and  our  media  and  other  people  involved  helped  communicate  7 
 exactly  what  we  needed  them  to  do  during  9-  11.  8 
 And  also  we  needed  their  help  during  hurricanes  9 
 and  ice  storms  and  other  types  of  activities,  and  they've  10 
 all  been  extremely  cooperative  when  we,  the  City,  have  asked  11 
 for  their  assistance,  whether  it  be  the  TV  stations  or  the  12 
 radio  programs,  and  we've  been  very  complimentary  of  them.  13 
 And  they've  also  continued  to  provide  us  good  public  14 
 service.  15 
 I  will  say  this  in  Charlotte.  There's  a  very  16 
 strong  community  norm  of  responsibility  that  is  not  only  put  17 
 on  public  servants  like  myself,  but  also  on  the  media.  And  18 
 if  you  cross  that  norm  and  you  don't  get  involved  in  this  19 
 community,  the  market  and  the  community  will  respond  and  20 
 they  will  respond  in  many  different  ways,  both  with  their  21 
 pocket  books,  with  people  speaking  out  against  them  if  they  22 
 don't  take  full  responsibility  and  care  for  our  city.  23 
 Because  we  have  a  firm  belief  in  Charlotte  that  24 
 when  you  come  here,  you  can  make  a  living,  but  you  also  must  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  9 
 care  for  the  current  and  future  of  Charlotte,  and  you  must  1 
 make  it  a  better  place  in  which  to  live,  work,  and  raise  a  2 
 family,  and  that  includes  the  media  organizations.  3 
 We  do  listen  to  the  marketplace.  I  say  this  4 
 rather  lightly,  but  an  example  of  that  is  The  Howard  Stern  5 
 Show  did  not  make  it  here  in  Charlotte.  And  that  to  me  says  6 
 something  because  we  do  have  community  values  and  community  7 
 norms  that  are  very,  very  important  to  us.  And  we  expect  8 
 the  people  in  the  media  markets  respond  to  those  norms,  care  9 
 for  our  community,  and  help  educate  the  community  in  many  10 
 areas,  including  government  service.  11 
 So  on  behalf  of  everyone  in  the  City  of  Charlotte,  12 
 welcome,  enjoy  your  stay  here.  I  hope  you  get  to  visit  our  13 
 city  more.  Chairman  Powell,  I  know  you  got  to  walk  in  our  14 
 city  a  little  bit  this  morning,  but  next  time  stay  longer  15 
 and  we'll  give  you  a  great  tour  and  we'll  take  you  to  a  16 
 Carolina  Panther  football  game  too.  17 
 Thank  you  and  may  God  bless  each  one  of  you.  18 
 Thank  you  very  much.  19 
 (Applause.)  20 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Mayor.  And  as  a  21 
 Redskin  fan,  we're  happy  to  be  in  greener  pastures  here  in  22 
 Charlotte.  23 
 (Laughter.)  24 
 MAYOR  McCRORY:  You're  coming  soon.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  10 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Yes,  sadly.  I  also  want  to  just  1 
 thank  you  and  all  the  wonderful  people  of  Charlotte  who  have  2 
 just  extended  the  classic  southern  hospitality  to  the  3 
 Commission.  It's  been  one  of  the  best  organized  events  4 
 we've  ever  had,  and  I  really  want  to  extend  my  compliments  5 
 to  you  and  to  the  citizens  of  the  city.  6 
 With  that  let  me  begin  with  some  opening  remarks.  7 
 Back  in  August  I  announced  an  initiative  on  localism  in  8 
 broadcasting.  A  critical  part  of  that  effort  is  for  the  FCC  9 
 to  get  out  of  Washington  and  start  talking  to  Americans  10 
 about  the  system  of  broadcasting  and  how  it  serves  local  11 
 communities.  12 
 We  are  here  in  Charlotte  tonight  to  kick  off  a  13 
 series  of  public  hearings  on  localism  in  broadcasting,  and  14 
 to  use  those  hearings  as  a  part  of  the  record  we  will  use  to  15 
 make  decisions  on  whether  or  not  to  renew  the  licenses  of  16 
 your  local  broadcasters.  17 
 So  what  is  localism  and  why  does  the  FCC  care  18 
 about  it?  Generally  speaking,  localism  is  the  19 
 responsiveness  of  a  broadcast  station  to  the  needs  and  20 
 interests  of  its  community.  Promoting  localism  is  one  of  21 
 the  principle  reasons  the  FCC  regulates  broadcast  television  22 
 and  radio.  23 
 Before  a  radio  or  television  station  can  go  on  the  24 
 air,  it  must  receive  a  broadcast  license  from  the  FCC.  If  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  11 
 the  FCC  determines  the  applicant  is  qualified  to  hold  a  1 
 license,  one  is  issued.  2 
 In  return,  however,  the  licensee  promises  to  serve  3 
 the  public  interest  through  its  property.  A  key  part  of  the  4 
 public  interest  is  that  the  broadcaster  air  programming  that  5 
 is  responsive  to  the  community  of  license.  This  public  6 
 interest  obligation  applies  uniquely  to  broadcasters  and  is  7 
 what  singularly  distinguishes  them  from  cable  or  satellite  8 
 channels.  9 
 The  FCC  has  promoted  localism  in  two  major  ways.  10 
 One  is  by  limiting  the  number  of  stations  an  entity  can  own.  11 
 But  regardless  of  who  owns  the  station,  that  owner  is  12 
 legally  obligated  to  serve  the  local  community.  This  13 
 inquiry  here  seeks  to  examine  if  that  is  happening,  and  if  14 
 not,  to  consider  the  actions  the  Commission  might  take,  15 
 including  potentially  not  renewing  an  owner's  broadcast  16 
 license  for  failing  to  serve  the  public  interest.  17 
 In  the  past  the  Commission  tried  to  promote  18 
 localism  by  requiring  broadcasters  to  air  certain  kinds  of  19 
 programming  that  it  believed  was  in  the  public  interest.  20 
 Over  time,  however,  the  media  environment  became  more  21 
 competitive  and  past  FCC's  have  relied  more  on  free  markets  22 
 to  ensure  that  citizens  received  the  programming  they  23 
 wanted.  24 
 But  a  station's  duty  to  serve  its  local  community  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  12 
 has  never  changed.  Today's  hearing  begins  an  on-  the-  ground  1 
 inspection  of  how  our  broadcast  system  is  working  for  local  2 
 communities.  Specifically  we  have  three  main  objectives  of  3 
 these  hearings.  4 
 First,  we  want  to  hear  directly  from  members  of  5 
 the  public  on  how  they  think  their  local  broadcasters  are  6 
 doing;  what  you  do  like,  what  do  you  dislike;  what  do  you  7 
 think  should  be  done  differently?  8 
 Secondly  we  want  to  hear  from  broadcasters  about  9 
 their  localism  efforts.  I  know  many  broadcasters  are  10 
 justifiably  proud  of  their  work  to  serve  their  local  11 
 communities  and  we  need  to  hear  from  them.  12 
 And  third,  we  want  to  educate  the  members  of  the  13 
 public  on  how  they  can  participate  at  the  FCC  when  a  local  14 
 station's  license  is  up  for  renewal.  15 
 I  see  these  hearings  as  an  opportunity  to  bring  16 
 these  license  renewals  to  life.  It  is  one  thing  for  us  as  17 
 commissioners  to  sit  at  our  desks  in  Washington  and  read  a  18 
 dry  rule  application;  quite  another  to  talk  directly  with  19 
 the  people  who  listen  to  those  stations  every  day.  20 
 We  chose  Charlotte  as  our  first  hearing  site  in  21 
 part  because  the  radio  and  TV  licenses  for  North  Carolina  22 
 and  South  Carolina  are  up  for  renewal  shortly,  and  we  wanted  23 
 to  begin  spreading  the  word  that  renewals  are  not  just  an  24 
 inside  the  Washington  Beltway  phenomenon.  They're  open  to  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  13 
 anyone  who  has  something  to  say  about  their  local  stations.  1 
 Along  these  lines  I  have  asked  the  FCC  staff  to  2 
 prepare  a  short  primer  on  how  to  participate  in  the  license  3 
 renewal  process.  Those  will  be  available  to  you  on  the  4 
 tables  in  the  back  of  the  room.  This  primer  is  also  located  5 
 on  our  website  at  www.  fcc.  gov/  localism.  6 
 Finally  I  want  to  thank  the  panelists  for  7 
 preparing  testimony  and  joining  us  tonight.  The  8 
 participation  of  local  broadcasters  is  critical  if  these  9 
 hearings  are  to  be  meaningful,  and  I  extend  my  sincere  10 
 thanks  for  your  presence  here  tonight.  And  I  want  to  wish  11 
 to  thank  the  local  groups  and  individuals  who  have  agreed  to  12 
 speak  tonight  as  well.  13 
 And  finally  I  want  to  extend  a  welcome  to  the  14 
 citizens  of  Charlotte  who  are  here  in  attendance,  as  well  as  15 
 those  watching  on  TV  or  listening  via  the  FCC's  audio  16 
 webcast.  We  very  much  look  forward  to  tonight's  discussion.  17 
 With  those  opening  remarks,  let  me  give  my  18 
 colleagues  an  opportunity  to  speak,  and  I  first  introduce  19 
 you  to  Commissioner  Mike  Copps.  Commissioner?  20 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  21 
 Good  evening  and  welcome  to  all.  It's  always  a  happy  22 
 occasion  for  me  to  return  to  the  Carolinas,  having  lived  for  23 
 a  number  of  years  just  down  the  road  in  Spartenburg  and  24 
 having  many  pleasant  memories  of  being  a  student  at  Chapel  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  14 
 Hill.  I  am  most  grateful  for  the  hospitality  that  we  have  1 
 received  while  we  are  here  today,  grateful  for  everybody  2 
 taking  the  time  to  turn  out  this  evening.  3 
 I'm  particularly  pleased  to  see  Congressman  Mel  4 
 Watt  from  Charlotte,  the  12th  Congressional  District,  and  my  5 
 friend  David  Price  from  the  4th  District  here  tonight.  Both  6 
 of  these  gentlemen  have  shown  strong  and  visionary  7 
 leadership  in  a  host  of  media  issues.  8 
 Tonight  we  continue  a  truly  remarkable  grassroots  9 
 dialogue  about  the  future  of  our  media.  Over  the  course  of  10 
 the  past  year  we  have  witnessed  a  growing  national  concern  11 
 over  what  many  people  believe  are  disturbing  trends  in  the  12 
 media.  Citizens  from  all  over  the  country,  conservative  and  13 
 liberal,  republican  and  democrat,  young  and  old,  rural  and  14 
 urban,  north  and  south  have  come  together  to  express  their  15 
 concern  and  even  alarm.  16 
 For  many  months  the  discussion  focused  on  17 
 ownership  rules  implemented  by  the  Federal  Communications  18 
 Commission  with  people  asking  how  many  or  perhaps,  more  19 
 accurately,  how  a  few  broadcast  stations,  media  20 
 conglomerates  should  be  allowed  to  own,  or  for  what  purposes  21 
 are  stations  granted  licenses,  and  how  does  the  public  22 
 interest  fare  in  the  more  heavily  consolidated  environment.  23 
 This  ownership  dialogue  continues  in  Congress  and  in  the  24 
 courts  around  the  nation.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  15 
 Tonight  we  address  core  media  values,  particularly  1 
 localism,  from  a  little  different  perspective.  But  we  must  2 
 realize,  of  course,  that  it  is  all  part  of  a  larger  3 
 discussion  about  protecting  the  people's  interest  and  the  4 
 people's  airwaves.  No  part  of  this  grassroots  dialogue  can  5 
 be  divorced  from  any  other  part.  6 
 As  we  begin  this  first  of  several  Commission  7 
 hearings,  we  should  return  to  basic  principles  reminding  8 
 ourselves  that  all  of  us  own  the  airwaves,  and  the  9 
 corporations  that  are  given  the  privilege  of  using  this  10 
 precious  public  asset,  and  to  profit  from  that  use  in  11 
 exchange  for  their  commitment  to  serve  the  public  interest.  12 
 Broadcasters  have  been  given  very  special  13 
 privileges  and  they  have  very  special  responsibilities  to  14 
 serve  their  local  communities.  15 
 Since  the  1980's,  in  my  opinion,  fundamental  16 
 protections  of  the  public  interest  have  been  weakened  and  17 
 have  withered.  Requirements  like  meeting  with  members  of  18 
 the  community  to  determine  the  needs  and  wishes  of  their  19 
 local  audience,  teeing  up  controversial  issues  for  viewers  20 
 and  listeners,  encouraging  antagonistic  points  of  view,  and  21 
 providing  viewpoint  and  program  diversity,  to  name  just  a  22 
 few  of  the  obligations  that  once  we  had.  23 
 In  addition  we  have  pared  back  the  license  renewal  24 
 process  from  one  wherein  every  three  years  examined  very  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  16 
 rigorously  whether  the  broadcaster  was  actually  serving  the  1 
 public  interest,  to  one  wherein  now  companies  need  only  send  2 
 us  a  short  form  every  eight  years  and  generally  nothing  3 
 more.  These  days  getting  a  license  renewed  is  pretty  much  a  4 
 slam  dunk.  It's  not  called  postcard  renewal  for  nothing.  5 
 So  step  by  step,  rule  by  rule,  public  interest  6 
 protections  strike  me  as  being  weaker,  much  weaker  than  they  7 
 used  to  be.  I  believe  this  has  happened  at  a  high  and  8 
 dangerous  cost  to  the  American  people.  Some  call  my  concern  9 
 excessive,  but  I  believe  in  my  bones  that  the  survival  of  10 
 fundamental  value  hinges  on  the  outcome  of  this  national  11 
 dialogue.  12 
 We  come  to  Charlotte  to  talk  directly  with  members  13 
 of  this  community  and  region  and  to  tap  its  local  expertise  14 
 as  to  what  is  happening  here.  How  can  we  possibly  know  if  15 
 licensees  are  serving  their  communities  without  hearing  from  16 
 the  community?  Are  stations  adding  to  the  civic  dialogue?  17 
 Are  they  adhering  to  community  standards,  or  are  they  airing  18 
 excessive  amounts  of  indecent  and  excessively  violent  19 
 programming?  20 
 Are  they  encouraging  local  talents  and  local  21 
 genius?  Are  they  reaching  out  to  minority  groups  within  the  22 
 community?  23 
 I  know  we  will  leave  here  tonight  knowing  facts  24 
 and  having  perspectives  that  just  wouldn't  have  floated  into  25 
16
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  17 
 us  had  we  remained  in  Washington.  We  start  with  our  panels  1 
 tonight  and  I  would  like  to  thank  each  panelist  for  taking  2 
 the  time  and  trouble  to  be  with  us  this  evening.  3 
 What  I'm  especially  looking  forward  to  is  hearing  4 
 from  members  of  the  public  that  have  given  up  their  evening  5 
 to  be  here  to  discuss  the  importance  of  local  broadcasting  6 
 in  their  communities.  I  have  seen  this  around  the  country,  7 
 the  interest  and  the  high  value  that  the  American  people  8 
 place  on  localism  in  broadcasting.  9 
 And  I  think  it  shows  how  important  this  issue  is  10 
 here  when  so  many  of  you  turn  out  in  this  room  this  evening  11 
 and  I  understand  in  the  overflow  rooms  also.  North  Carolina  12 
 is  making  its  voice  heard,  and  I  am  enormously  pleased  to  be  13 
 here  to  listen  and  to  learn.  14 
 So  I  thank  each  of  you,  and  I  thank  you,  Mr.  15 
 Chairman,  for  bringing  us  together  tonight.  16 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you,  Commissioner,  for  17 
 your  remarks.  Commissioner  Adelstein.  18 
 COMMISSIONER  ADELSTEIN:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  19 
 It's  great  to  be  here  in  Charlotte  to  begin  this  dialogue  20 
 on  how  well  broadcasters  are  serving  their  local  21 
 communities.  22 
 I'd  like  to  commend  Chairman  Powell  and  my  fellow  23 
 Commissioners  for  bringing  us  together  and  getting  these  24 
 historic  hearings  underway.  25 
17
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  18 
 I  think  the  key  is,  as  the  Chairman  said,  for  us  1 
 to  get  outside  of  Washington  and  to  hear  directly  from  2 
 people  in  communities  like  Charlotte.  And  we're  doing  a  3 
 series  of  these  across  the  country  in  a  very  select  group  of  4 
 cities,  and  I  just  think  that  it's  so  important  that  we  do  5 
 so.  I  also  recommend  that  we  continue  to  keep  our  eye  on  6 
 what's  happening  in  local  communities  as  we  go  through  each  7 
 of  these  license  renewals.  8 
 I'd  like  to  recognize  Congressman  Watt  and  9 
 Congressman  Price  for  their  leadership  on  these  issues,  and  10 
 thank  them  for  being  here.  11 
 I  think  that  it's  also  critical  that  these  12 
 hearings  are  taking  place  just  in  time  for  us  to  tell  the  13 
 public  how  they  can  participate  in  this  upcoming  round  of  14 
 license  renewals.  This  is  really,  I  think,  historic  that  we  15 
 are  looking  at  this  issue  at  all,  because  these  have  been,  16 
 as  Commissioner  Copps  outlined,  a  postcard  process.  17 
 Now  we're  getting  out  here,  we're  taking  it  18 
 seriously,  we  want  to  hear  from  people,  we  want  to  see  19 
 what's  happening.  20 
 I  think  that  the  broadcasters,  they're  in  many  21 
 cases  doing  a  great  job,  but  we  need  to  keep  people's  feet  22 
 to  the  fire  to  ensure  that  they're  continuing  to  serve  their  23 
 local  communities.  I  don't  think  most  people  in  the  public  24 
 are  even  aware  that  these  license  renewals  are  happening,  25 
18
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  19 
 and  we're  here  to  let  you  know  how  you  can  get  involved.  1 
 Tonight's  hearing  falls  around  the  hearings  that  2 
 were  held  around  the  country  last  spring  to  hear  public  3 
 input  about  the  media  ownership  rules  that  we  have.  I  think  4 
 those  hearings  were  tremendously  valuable.  5 
 We  heard  firsthand  from  thousands  of  people,  and  I  6 
 sense  that  there  is  a  real  frustration  out  among  the  public  7 
 about  the  media.  And  one  of  the  issues  of  concern  was  8 
 localism,  and  I  think  it's  appropriate  that  we  now  focus  on  9 
 that  issue  head-  on.  And  I  think  that  we'll  learn  a  lot  10 
 about  that  issue,  even  more  deftly  than  we  did  last  time.  11 
 So  we're  here  to  talk  about  localism  and  I'd  like  12 
 to  talk  a  little  bit  about  what  that  means.  Every  community  13 
 has  its  local  needs,  its  local  talents,  local  elections,  14 
 local  news,  and  local  culture.  And  localism  reflects  the  15 
 commitment  to  local  news  and  public  affairs  programming,  but  16 
 it  also  means  a  lot  more.  17 
 It  means  providing  opportunities  for  local  self-  18 
 expression,  it  means  reaching  out,  developing  and  promoting  19 
 local  performing  artists  and  other  local  talent.  It  means  20 
 making  programming  decisions  that  serve  local  needs.  It  21 
 means  making  sure  that  the  coverage  reflects  the  makeup  of  22 
 the  community.  23 
 I  was  fascinated  to  learn,  for  example,  that  the  24 
 Hispanic  population  in  North  Carolina  has  increased  by  25 
19
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  20 
 nearly  400  percent  since  1990,  with  Raleigh,  Greensboro  and  1 
 Charlotte  three  of  the  four  fastest  growing  Hispanic  cities  2 
 in  America.  We  need  to  know  the  concerns  of  the  growing  3 
 Hispanic  community  as  well  as  the  African-  American  community  4 
 and  other  minority  groups,  that  they  are  getting  the  5 
 attention  that  they  deserve  through  the  licensed  broadcast  6 
 outlets  in  this  community.  7 
 Localism  also  means  the  station  being  responsive  8 
 to  the  community  in  other  ways,  such  as  dedicating  the  9 
 resources  to  discover  and  address  the  needs  of  the  10 
 community.  It  means  being  accessible,  sending  reporters  and  11 
 cameras  out  to  all  parts  of  the  community,  to  all  the  12 
 different  stories,  to  really  cover  what's  happening  in  the  13 
 community,  documenting  those  efforts  that  they  undertake  for  14 
 the  public  to  review  in  files  that  are  accessible  to  15 
 residents  in  the  communities  so  they  can  know  what  the  16 
 station's  doing.  17 
 I  think  there  are  many  local  broadcasters  in  this  18 
 country  who  have  shown  a  long-  term  and  a  real  commitment  to  19 
 community  service  and  to  localism,  and  some  stations  do  very  20 
 well  with  this,  including  some  real  standouts  here  in  North  21 
 Carolina,  and  I  think  we'll  hear  from  representatives  of  22 
 some  of  those  today.  23 
 So  we're  here  tonight  to  learn  how  we  can  24 
 encourage  other  stations  to  put  the  needs  of  the  local  25 
20
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  21 
 community  first.  That's  the  cornerstone  of  the  public's  1 
 social  contract  with  broadcasters.  2 
 As  outlined  by  my  colleagues,  they  get  a  valuable  3 
 license  from  the  FCC  to  use  the  public  airwaves,  and  then  4 
 they  agree  to  act  as  a  trustee  for  the  public  interest  in  5 
 return.  We  don't  give  out  those  licenses  simply  to  6 
 broadcasters  on  a  national  basis  like  in  other  countries.  7 
 In  many  cases,  like  the  BBC  in  England,  they  provide  8 
 nationwide  licenses.  Here  historically  we  provide  local  9 
 licenses  to  local  communities  and  insisted  that  they  serve  10 
 local  needs.  11 
 So  each  --  you  as  licensees  should  take  that  12 
 obligation  very  seriously  and  make  sure  to  inform  the  13 
 community  about  local  elections,  about  political  14 
 controversies,  about  good  things  that  are  happening  in  the  15 
 community,  and  other  matters  that  are  related  to  the  self-  16 
 governance  of  a  democracy.  17 
 Thinking  of  my  own  family  and  my  own  father,  for  18 
 example,  was  an  elected  republican  state  representative  in  19 
 my  home  state  of  South  Dakota,  and  he  sees  the  need  for  the  20 
 media  to  cover  these  local  concerns,  what's  happening  in  the  21 
 state  government  and  local  government.  22 
 And  I  think  he's  really  onto  something  because  if  23 
 you  look  at  a  study  that  was  done  of  all  the  combined  TV  24 
 coverage  of  the  2000  campaign,  including  local,  state  and  25 
21
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  22 
 federal,  all  --  from  the  sheriff  to  the  President  of  the  1 
 United  States,  74  seconds  per  night  is  all  we  saw.  People  2 
 heard  a  lot  more  from  paid  political  ads  in  74  seconds.  3 
 Maybe  that's  why  half  our  population  doesn't  even  4 
 bother  to  vote.  I  don't  think  that's  a  very  healthy  thing  5 
 for  our  democracy.  And  half  our  people  not  voting  isn't  a  6 
 healthy  democracy.  7 
 And  the  licensees  of  our  broadcast  stations  have  8 
 an  obligation  to  do  something  about  it,  they  have  an  9 
 obligation  to  cover  what's  happening  in  the  community,  to  10 
 get  people  aware  of  what's  happening,  to  not  just  have  them  11 
 get  all  their  information  from  these  overwhelming  negative  12 
 ads.  They  need  to  cover  local  political  issues.  13 
 So  we're  about  to  begin  an  in-  depth  examination.  14 
 This  is  the  beginning  of  it,  of  how  we,  the  FCC,  can  improve  15 
 how  broadcasters  serve  their  local  communities,  and  we  need  16 
 your  input  as  we  launch  this  investigation.  17 
 For  example,  how  to  hold  stations  accountable  when  18 
 shock-  jock  programming  offends  community  standards  or  harms  19 
 the  residents.  We've  heard  some  stories  about  that  right  20 
 here  in  North  Carolina.  21 
 So  I  look  forward  to  hearing  from  all  the  22 
 excellent  panelists  and  I  want  to  thank  them  for  coming  from  23 
 all  across  the  State  of  North  Carolina  to  share  their  views  24 
 about  how  the  local  communities  are  being  served,  or  how  in  25 
22
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  23 
 the  case  of  the  broadcasters  they  are  serving  their  local  1 
 communities.  2 
 So  thank  you  all  for  coming  out  and  sharing  your  3 
 views,  and  I  thank  the  public  for  coming  here,  and  I  look  4 
 forward  to  hearing  from  you.  5 
 I've  got  a  two-  week  baby  home,  so  I've  got  to  rush  6 
 out  right  afterwards  to  get  back  and  make  sure  I'm  serving  7 
 my  own  immediate  local  community.  Thank  you  for  your  time  8 
 and  I  look  forward  to  hearing  from  the  witnesses.  9 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much,  10 
 Commissioner  Adelstein.  As  you've  heard,  we  are  really  11 
 honored  to  have  with  us  two  very  distinguished  members  of  12 
 the  United  States  Congress  who  have  taken  some  time  to  come  13 
 and  lend  their  support  to  the  hearing.  14 
 We're  going  to  hear  from  Congressman  David  Price,  15 
 Democratic  representative  from  Chapel  Hill,  first  elected  to  16 
 Congress  in  1986,  and  also  Congressman  Mel  Watt,  the  17 
 Democratic  representative  from  here  in  Charlotte  who  has  18 
 served  since  1992.  19 
 And  I'd  like  to  invite  them  first,  if  Congressman  20 
 Watt  would  like,  to  make  a  few  remarks,  and  we  welcome  you  21 
 to  do  that,  sir.  22 
 CONGRESSMAN  WATT:  I  want  to  personally  thank  23 
 Chairman  Powell  and  the  other  Commissioners  for  providing  24 
 this  opportunity  for  our  residents  to  express  their  feelings  25 
23
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  24 
 about  the  importance  of  localism  in  broadcasting.  1 
 I'm  mindful  that  the  purpose  of  this  hearing  is  to  2 
 get  the  input  of  the  people,  not  their  representatives  in  3 
 Congress.  Consequently,  my  comments  will  be  brief  and  I've  4 
 submitted  a  longer  version  of  what  I  have  to  say  to  the  5 
 secretary.  6 
 Before  proceeding  to  my  substantive  comments,  I  7 
 want  to  make  two  brief  points  that  may  be  unnecessary  8 
 because  they  are  so  obvious.  I  do  so  only  because  I  think  9 
 they  should  not  be  taken  for  granted.  10 
 First,  isn't  it  great  to  live  in  a  country  that  11 
 places  a  value  on  having  a  discussion  such  as  this  which  12 
 first  and  foremost  assumes  an  unequivocal  commitment  to  the  13 
 importance  of  the  First  Amendment  and  to  the  importance  of  14 
 the  rights  the  First  Amendment  protects,  free  speech  and  15 
 free  and  open  press?  16 
 What  would  many  people  around  the  world  give  to  17 
 have  an  opportunity  such  as  this  to  express  themselves?  18 
 Second,  while  tonight's  discussion  is  about  19 
 localism  in  broadcasting,  and  you're  likely  to  hear  over  and  20 
 over  that  localism  is  important,  I  think  it  is  also  21 
 important  to  emphasize  that  every  element  of  our  system  of  22 
 broadcasting  plays  a  valuable  role  whether  the  local,  23 
 regional,  national,  print,  television,  radio  or  tech.  In  24 
 short,  the  best  citizen  is  an  informed  citizen.  25 
24
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  25 
 Substantively,  my  bottom  line  is  that  localism  in  1 
 broadcasting  is  extremely  important.  That  probably  became  2 
 obvious  from  a  high  profile  source  recently,  the  President  3 
 of  the  United  States.  4 
 President  Bush  complained  about  how  he  perceived  5 
 that  the  national  media  was  filtering  good  information  about  6 
 the  way  things  are  going  in  Iraq,  and  indicated  that  he  was  7 
 turning  to  local  broadcasters  to  get  the,  quote,  real  story  8 
 out.  If  all  of  our  media  had  been  national  media,  that  9 
 option  clearly  would  not  have  been  available  to  the  10 
 President.  This  example  clearly  illustrates  the  value  of  11 
 differing  perspectives  in  the  media.  12 
 I  suspect  you're  going  to  hear  a  parade  of  people  13 
 today  who  agree  with  the  President  that  localism  is  14 
 important.  I'll  also  be  surprised  if  you  don't  also  hear  15 
 that  the  current  local  and  national  breakdown  seems  to  be  16 
 working  real  well  in  this  community,  which  leads  me  to  the  17 
 first  point  I  want  to  make.  18 
 If  the  system  wasn't  broke,  why  did  the  FCC  try  to  19 
 fix  it?  Already  today  ten  companies  control  the  huge  20 
 majority  of  media,  radio,  television,  books,  magazines,  21 
 cable,  internet,  movies  and  music.  One  can  make  a  good  case  22 
 that  localism  was  about  the  only  thing  that  was  keeping  some  23 
 semblance  of  balance  in  the  system.  24 
 So  why  would  the  FCC  want  to  make  a  bad  situation  25 
25
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  26 
 worse  by  running  the  risk  of  reducing  that  important  local  1 
 ingredient?  2 
 In  short,  there  seems  to  me  to  be  no  justification  3 
 for  the  FCC's  June  2  decision  to  allow  one  company  in  our  4 
 largest  cities  to  own  up  to  three  TV  stations,  the  daily  5 
 newspaper,  eight  radio  stations,  the  cable  system  and  the  6 
 internet  sites  affiliated  with  all  of  these.  7 
 If  the  decision  stands,  I  believe  fewer  and  fewer  8 
 large  corporations  will  control  more  and  more  of  our  media.  9 
 And  I  believe  we  could  expect  lower  standards,  less  10 
 attention  to  local  interest  and  talent,  and  a  dramatic  11 
 decline  in  the  diversity  of  public  voices  we  hear,  see  and  12 
 read.  I  think  this  would  be  bad  for  our  democracy.  That  is  13 
 why  I  have  been  a  part  of  ongoing  efforts  in  Congress  to  14 
 reverse  the  3-  2  decision  of  the  FCC.  15 
 I  want  to  make  a  second  point  quickly,  but  with  no  16 
 less  passion.  There  are  important  elements  to  diversity  in  17 
 media  other  than  just  the  issue  of  whether  local  groups  or  18 
 national  corporations  own  the  bulk  of  our  media  outlets.  19 
 One  element  that  is  extremely  important  to  my  20 
 constituents  and  to  me  is  the  lack  of  racial  minorities  in  21 
 the  media  ownership.  This  issue  was  addressed  eloquently  by  22 
 Commissioner  Adelstein  on  July  22nd  in  his  speech  delivered  23 
 to  the  Minority  Media  and  Telecommunications  Council.  I  24 
 agree  with  the  Commissioner  that  the  FCC's  new  ownership  25 
26
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  27 
 rules  would  likely  make,  quote,  "the  situation  for  1 
 minorities  and  new  entrants  go  from  bad  to  worse",  close  2 
 quote.  3 
 Despite  representing  more  than  29  percent  of  the  4 
 U.  S.  population,  minority  broadcasters  own  only  four  percent  5 
 of  the  nation's  commercial  stations,  a  decline  of  14  percent  6 
 since  enactment  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996;  and  7 
 1.9  percent  of  the  nation's  commercial  television  stations.  8 
 In  a  report  and  order  released  by  the  FCC  on  July  9 
 2,  2003  and  published  in  the  Federal  Register  on  August  5,  10 
 2003,  the  FCC  stated,  quote,  "that  encouraging  minority  and  11 
 female  ownership  historically  has  been  an  important  12 
 Commission  objective  and  we  affirm  that  goal  here",  close  13 
 quote.  14 
 Both  because  I  think  minority  ownership  is  15 
 important  and  because  I  believe  minority  ownership  best  16 
 promotes  a  diversity  of  viewpoints,  I  simply  want  to  17 
 encourage  the  FCC  to  make  --  to  take  this  objective  18 
 seriously  and  make  a  real  commitment  to  it.  19 
 Enough  said  on  this  issue.  I  thank  you  again,  Mr.  20 
 Chairman,  for  being  here.  I  hope  you  enjoy  this  great  city,  21 
 and  I'm  delighted  to  have  you  in  the  12th  Congressional  22 
 District  of  North  Carolina.  23 
 (Applause.)  24 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you,  Congressman  Watt.  25 
27
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  28 
 Congressman  Price,  please.  1 
 CONGRESSMAN  PRICE:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  Let  2 
 me  add  my  welcome  to  you  and  other  members  of  the  Commission  3 
 for  holding  this,  the  first  of  your  nationwide  hearings  on  4 
 localism  and  license  renewal  here  in  North  Carolina.  We  5 
 welcome  you  and  we  appreciate  the  effort  you  have  made  to  6 
 take  this  show  on  the  road,  and  to  start  out  in  this  7 
 community.  8 
 In  a  way  this  discussion  tonight  we'll  continue  9 
 the  discussion  we  had  at  Duke  University  in  March  with  10 
 Commissioners  Copps  and  Adelstein  when  the  issue  was  11 
 localism  as  it  pertained  to  media  ownership.  12 
 I'm  happy  to  see  many  familiar  faces  here  tonight  13 
 from  the  Triangle  area  of  North  Carolina.  We've  known  for  a  14 
 long  time  how  important  local  media  are  to  our  communities,  15 
 but  I  must  say  we  hardly  anticipated  how  loudly  this  issue  16 
 would  resonate  across  the  political  spectrum.  17 
 I  remember  from  my  short-  lived  career  in  radio  in  18 
 one  of  those  one  thousand  watt  stations  that  sprang  up  in  19 
 the  1950s,  how  stations  were  required  to  document  their  20 
 local  programming  and  public  service  at  license  renewal  21 
 time.  Most  of  these  rules  are  no  more.  But  the  need  to  22 
 ensure  the  local  media  meet  the  needs  of  their  communities  23 
 remain.  24 
 The  license  renewal  process  is  an  important  part  25 
28
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  29 
 of  that,  I  believe,  but  it  can't  do  the  job  alone.  Network  1 
 executives  can't  do  that  from  their  corporate  offices  in  New  2 
 York  either.  Rather,  local  broadcasters  have  a  day-  to-  day  3 
 responsibility.  These  broadcasters  are  responsible  for  4 
 programming  that  covers  and  engages  their  local  communities.  5 
 Indeed,  they're  often  at  their  best  when  they  compete  with  6 
 each  other  in  providing  such  coverage.  7 
 Viewers  and  listeners  have  told  us  in  overwhelming  8 
 numbers  how  much  they  value  this  local  orientation  and  want  9 
 it  encouraged,  not  smothered.  10 
 Localism  is  partly  about  who  owns  television  and  11 
 radio  stations,  but  it's  also  about  how  broadcasters  12 
 determine  their  programming,  programming  that  adheres  to  13 
 their  community  standards,  not  the  standards  of  some  reality  14 
 TV  producer  in  Los  Angeles  or  some  Dixie  Chicks  bashing  15 
 political  operative  in  Washington.  16 
 Just  look  at  radio.  We're  living  in  a  world  where  17 
 one  or  a  very  few  companies  can  control  most  of  the  stations  18 
 we  listen  to.  Many  local  stations  these  days  are  19 
 essentially  run  by  remote  control.  Post-  1996  deregulation  20 
 has  not  been  kind  to  localism  and  radio.  Why  on  earth  would  21 
 we  want  to  see  television  go  down  that  same  path?  22 
 Diversity  in  media  isn't  about  200  flavors  on  23 
 cable  or  on  satellite  TV  or  radio.  It's  about  the  diversity  24 
 and  the  independence  of  our  media,  media  that  reflect  the  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  30 
 standards  and  needs  of  our  communities.  1 
 Americans  have  made  their  voice  heard  in  this  2 
 debate  and  I  expect  we'll  hear  a  good  deal  more  of  that  3 
 tonight.  My  thanks  to  the  Commission  for  making  this  4 
 exchange  possible.  5 
 And,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  might,  in  a  demonstration  6 
 that  concern  for  localism  does  in  fact  cross  party  lines,  7 
 I'd  like  to  ask  that  a  fine  article  recently  from  The  8 
 Charlotte  Observer  be  included  in  the  record  by  former  9 
 Senator  Jesse  Helms  and  Representative  Richard  Burr  entitled  10 
 Keep  Control  of  TV  Local.  11 
 (Applause.)  12 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much,  13 
 Congressman.  I'll  be  happy  to  submit  that  for  the  record.  14 
 At  this  point  I'd  like  to  ask  the  secretary  of  the  FCC  to  15 
 please  announce  officially  tonight's  meeting.  16 
 SECRETARY  DORTCH:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  Good  17 
 evening  to  you,  Commissioners,  panelists  and  special  guests.  18 
 The  following  are  the  procedures  for  today's  Localism  Task  19 
 Force  public  hearing.  We  will  utilize  a  time  machine  to  20 
 maintain  time  limits  on  each  presentation.  Each  panelist  21 
 will  have  a  total  of  three  minutes  to  make  their  individual  22 
 presentation.  23 
 The  green  light  will  signal  for  the  first  two  24 
 minutes  of  your  remarks.  When  the  yellow  light  signals,  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  31 
 you'll  have  one  minute  remaining.  At  that  time  you  should  1 
 sum  up  your  presentation  and  closing  remarks.  The  red  light  2 
 signals  the  end  of  your  allotted  time.  Please  conclude  your  3 
 remarks  at  that  time.  Thank  you.  4 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you,  Madam  Secretary.  Let  5 
 me  take  a  second  to  explain  to  the  audience  exactly  how  the  6 
 program  will  proceed  before  we  get  started.  7 
 The  first  panel  will  offer  their  testimony,  and  as  8 
 they  are  speaking,  all  members  of  the  public  are  invited  to  9 
 write  down  any  questions  you  may  have  for  the  panelist  on  10 
 notecards.  You'll  find  those  notecards  in  the  packets  you  11 
 picked  up  when  you  came  in.  12 
 Those  cards  will  be  collected  and  delivered  up  13 
 here  and  we'll  pose  as  many  of  the  questions  to  the  14 
 panelists  as  time  permits.  In  addition,  my  colleagues  and  I  15 
 may  take  the  opportunity  to  ask  questions  of  the  panelists  16 
 as  well.  17 
 Following  the  first  panel  we  will  have  an  open  mic  18 
 period,  and  all  members  of  the  audience  are  welcome  to  offer  19 
 comments  or  ask  questions  of  the  panelists  directly.  We'll  20 
 then  take  a  short  break,  and  the  second  panel  will  make  21 
 their  presentations,  again  followed  by  questions  from  the  22 
 bench  and  written  questions  from  the  audience.  23 
 So  without  further  ado  we  should  get  started  with  24 
 our  first  panel,  and  let  me  please  ask  Mr.  Keelor  to  provide  25 
31
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  32 
 your  opening  statement.  Welcome  and  thank  you  for  being  1 
 with  us.  2 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  3 
 Commissioners.  My  name  is  Jim  Keelor;  I'm  president  and  COO  4 
 of  Liberty  Corporation  based  in  Greenville,  South  Carolina.  5 
 Liberty  owns  fifteen  television  stations,  including  WIS,  the  6 
 NBC  affiliate  in  Columbia,  and  WWAY,  the  ABC  affiliate  in  7 
 Wilmington.  Our  other  markets  run  from  50  to  180.  8 
 I  started  out  in  broadcasting  36  years  ago  as  a  9 
 local  reporter,  so  I  think  I've  seen  the  industry  from  the  10 
 ground  up  and  I'm  grateful  for  the  opportunity  to  share  some  11 
 of  the  experiences  of  how  a  television  station  serve  their  12 
 local  markets.  13 
 Shortly  after  beginning  work  at  one  of  our  14 
 stations,  every  new  Liberty  employee  received  from  me  a  15 
 personal  letter  and  that  letter  begins,  quote,  "we  here  at  16 
 Liberty  are  very  serious  about  our  commitments  to  the  17 
 communities  we  serve",  end  quote.  And  while  there  are  too  18 
 many  examples  of  this  commitment  to  describe  here,  I  would  19 
 like  to  mention  just  a  few  of  those  station  efforts.  20 
 First,  as  most  of  you  know,  the  Carolinas  have  an  21 
 unfortunate  history  of  hurricanes  and  other  severe  weather,  22 
 and  over  the  years  both  WWAY  and  WIS  have  dedicated  23 
 thousands  of  hours  to  covering  these  storms,  most  recently  24 
 Hurricane  Isabel.  25 
32
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  33 
 Liberty  has  invested  millions  of  dollars  in  state-  1 
 of-  the-  art  weather  tracking  equipment  and  other  technology  2 
 which  help  us  to  broadcast  localized  emergency  warnings  and  3 
 report  on  the  community  recovery  efforts.  We  have  also  4 
 organized  fundraisers  to  help  those  families  who  were  5 
 victims  of  the  storms.  6 
 Liberty's  stations  also  devote  a  substantial  7 
 amount  of  free  air  time  to  covering  local  politics.  WWAY  8 
 and  the  North  Carolina  Broadcasters  Association  have  a  25-  9 
 year  history  of  producing  debates  among  statewide  political  10 
 candidates.  WIS  produced  and  aired  live  debates  before  both  11 
 the  primary  and  general  elections  for  governor  in  South  12 
 Carolina  in  2002.  13 
 Prior  to  that  general  election  WIS  aired  live  14 
 interviews  during  its  top-  rated  evening  newscast  with  18  15 
 candidates  for  federal  and  statewide  offices,  and  profiles  16 
 of  eight  different  key  issues  in  the  races  for  the  U.  S.  17 
 Senate  and  governor,  all  at  no  cost  to  the  candidates.  18 
 Our  stations  also  recognize  their  special  place  in  19 
 the  community  as  a  source  of  education  and  culture.  For  20 
 example,  WWAY  provided  special  programming  on  the  debut  and  21 
 opening  of  the  new  Cameron  Art  Museum  in  Wilmington,  and  a  22 
 thirty-  minute  special  just  before  that  museum  opened.  23 
 WIS,  for  its  part,  recently  launched  a  terrific  24 
 new  program  called  "A  Class  Act"  which  helps  teachers  in  25 
33
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  34 
 South  Carolina  equip  their  classrooms  with  needed  supplies  1 
 in  the  face  of  government  cuts  in  educational  funds.  2 
 Commissioners,  we  think  it's  important  for  you  to  3 
 understand  that  Liberty  is  not  unique  in  its  commitment  to  4 
 localism.  It's  what  broadcasters  must  strive  to  do.  Local  5 
 stations  understand  that  given  their  unique  place  in  the  6 
 community,  it  is  important  and  a  necessity  for  them  to  be  7 
 good  corporate  citizens.  8 
 But  we  also  know  that  in  this  era  of  six  9 
 nationwide  TV  networks,  80  cable  channels,  high-  speed  10 
 internet,  and  all  the  other  sources  of  information  out  11 
 there,  we  must  differentiate  ourselves  if  we're  going  to  12 
 attract  and  hold  the  attention  of  our  viewers.  The  best  way  13 
 for  us  to  do  that  is  to  be  involved  in  our  communities,  be  14 
 responsible  and  responsive  to  the  concerns  of  our  local  15 
 audience.  That  is  something  Liberty  Corporation  learned  a  16 
 long  time  ago,  and  it  is  the  main  reason  we've  been  able  to  17 
 survive  and  flourish  as  a  group  of  stations  located  in  small  18 
 markets  for  so  many  years.  19 
 Again,  thank  you  for  this  opportunity.  I'll  be  20 
 happy  to  answer  any  questions  from  the  Commissioners  or  the  21 
 audience  might  have.  22 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much,  sir.  Ms.  23 
 Debbie  Kwei,  General  Manager  of  WCHH.  24 
 MS.  KWEI:  Thank  you  and  good  evening.  My  name  is  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  35 
 Debbie  Kwei  and  I'm  the  General  Manager  of  WCHH,  92.7  here  1 
 in  Charlotte.  We  are  a  member  of  the  Radio  One  family  which  2 
 serves  local  markets  with  a  large  African-  American  presence.  3 
 Having  lived  in  Charlotte  since  1988,  I  was  4 
 thrilled  when  WCHH  hired  me  three  years  ago  as  it  set  out  to  5 
 bring  a  unique  urban  format  to  my  local  community.  I'm  6 
 delighted  to  speak  to  you  today  on  the  subject  of  localism  7 
 because  I'm  proud  of  the  achievements  WCHH  has  made  in  8 
 reaching  out  to  the  African-  American  community  in  Charlotte.  9 
 First  I'd  like  you  to  know  that  Radio  One  came  to  10 
 the  Charlotte  area  because  of  its  large  and  growing  African-  11 
 American  population  of  over  300,000  residents.  Before  12 
 WCHH's  arrival,  92.  7  FM  had  been  an  exclusively  oldies  13 
 station  with  a  significantly  smaller  minority  following  than  14 
 it  enjoys  today.  15 
 Welcoming  the  addition  of  our  station  to  the  16 
 market,  the  local  arts  and  entertainment  tabloid,  Creative  17 
 Loafing,  gave  us  its  best  format  change  award  for  2001.  18 
 Rather  than  having  to  turn  to  national  cable  outlets  like  19 
 MTV  or  BET,  Charlotte's  many  urban  music  fans  can  tune  into  20 
 one  of  three  very  local  radio  venues  in  fulfilling  their  21 
 musical  interests.  22 
 The  urban  radio  heard  in  Charlotte  is  not  the  same  23 
 as  that  of  Los  Angeles  or  Detroit.  We  regularly  invite  24 
 listeners  to  our  offices  and  ask  for  feedback  about  our  25 
35
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  36 
 programming.  We  combine  their  input  with  other  research  to  1 
 help  us  know  which  artists,  whether  national  or  local,  2 
 Charlotte's  urban  music  fans  want  to  hear.  Through  this  3 
 process  WCHH  creates  a  format  that  reflects  the  particular  4 
 musical  tastes  of  southern  urban  listeners.  5 
 For  example,  in  addition  to  popular  national  6 
 artists,  we  are  always  excited  to  air  local  urban  talent,  as  7 
 we  have  done  with  a  young  North  Carolina  artist  named  8 
 Sherica.  Because  of  her  local  appeal,  I  doubt  people  in  9 
 other  cities  can  hear  Sherica  as  often  as  they  have  done  on  10 
 WCHH.  11 
 WCHH  also  airs  a  weekly  program  called  Heat  From  12 
 the  Street  which  exclusively  features  local  artists.  To  13 
 find  other  new  acts  that  appeal  to  our  listeners,  station  14 
 program  directors  in  Charlotte  will  meet  with  15 
 representatives  of  independent  labels  weekly.  16 
 By  attracting  a  larger  music  following,  WCHH  is  a  17 
 perfect  outlet  for  speakers  wishing  to  reach  the  local  18 
 African-  American  community,  whether  on  issues  of  personal  19 
 well-  being  or  during  local  emergencies  like  recent  Hurricane  20 
 Isabel.  21 
 Seizing  upon  these  opportunities  is  our  Life  22 
 Improvements  for  Everyone  Campaign  which  tackles  six  issues  23 
 per  year  that  are  a  particular  concern  to  the  African-  24 
 American  community.  25 
36
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  37 
 For  example,  in  the  upcoming  campaign  WCHH  will  1 
 run  public  service  announcements  with  the  local  American  Red  2 
 Cross  Chapters  to  inform  listeners  about  the  low  supply  of  3 
 minority  bone  marrow  donors  and  opportunities  for  free  bone  4 
 marrow  testing  for  minorities.  5 
 To  be  sure  the  local  Red  Cross  has  the  attention  6 
 of  our  listeners,  we  will  air  stories  about  the  sister  of  7 
 popular  urban  artist  Nelly  who  is  suffering  from  leukemia.  8 
 This  month  for  breast  cancer  awareness,  we  asked  9 
 representatives  from  the  local  clinics  to  speak  on  the  air  10 
 about  the  need  for  regular  detection  measures.  11 
 In  airing  these  and  other  public  service  messages  12 
 we  could  not  reach  Charlotte's  African-  American  community  if  13 
 we  hadn't  first  met  our  locality's  particular  interest  in  14 
 urban  music.  Thus,  localism  for  us  is  learning  and  catering  15 
 to  the  listening  interest  of  our  local  target  audience  16 
 working  with  the  community  on  important  issues  of  public  17 
 concern,  and  providing  an  outlet  for  local  artists.  18 
 Thank  you  very  much  for  your  time.  I  look  forward  19 
 to  hearing  your  questions.  20 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much,  Ms.  Kwei.  21 
 Our  next  panelist  is  Tift  Merritt.  22 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Hi,  my  name  is  Tift  Merritt.  I'm  a  23 
 major  label  recording  artist.  And  if  you  haven't  ever  heard  24 
 of  me,  it's  because  I'm  not  on  your  radio.  I've  brought  my  25 
37
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  38 
 record  if  you  want  to  pass  them  out;  I'd  appreciate  it.  1 
 Time  Magazine  named  my  debut  the  number  six  record  2 
 of  2002;  Billboard  called  me  a  major  new  artist;  CMT  3 
 regularly  played  my  music  video.  Here's  my  spread  in  Vanity  4 
 Fair  and  I  was  on  David  Letter-  --  I'm  legit,  and  I'm  not  5 
 here  to  complain  that  I'm  not  the  queen  of  the  radio.  6 
 I'm  here  because  I'm  a  North  Carolina  musician;  7 
 I'm  a  North  Carolina  businesswoman.  Everyone  in  my  band  is  8 
 from  North  Carolina.  The  support  of  my  North  Carolina  fans  9 
 has  really  allowed  me  to  accomplish  what  I  have,  so  you're  10 
 looking  at  local.  11 
 And  when  I  was  invited  to  speak  today,  I  was  told  12 
 that  today's  debates  are  about  localism,  not  about  13 
 ownership.  As  a  local,  I  want  to  make  it  clear  that  any  14 
 conversation  about  localism  without  regard  to  media  15 
 ownership  is  absolutely  avoiding  the  heart  of  this  issue  and  16 
 certainly  cannot  render  a  sincere  solution.  17 
 (Applause.)  18 
 I  only  have  three  minutes,  so  I'm  going  to  cut  you  19 
 off.  In  Fortune  magazine  the  president  of  Clear  Channel,  20 
 Lowery  Mays,  I  am  not  attacking  him;  I'm  saying  what  he  21 
 said.  He  said  that  his  company  is  not  interested  in  music,  22 
 in  songs,  in  DJs;  they  sell  advertising.  23 
 I'm  here  today  because  I'm  very  distressed  that  24 
 the  FCC  feels  comfortable  allowing  the  public  airwaves  to  25 
38
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  39 
 rest  in  the  hands  of  people  who  admittedly  do  not  care  about  1 
 content.  The  airwaves  are  public;  the  airwaves  serve  the  2 
 public,  not  a  corporate  bottom  line,  and  this  is  where  3 
 localism  begins.  4 
 In  North  Carolina  I've  sold  as  many  records  as  5 
 people  like  Toby  Keith  and  Alan  Jackson.  My  local  country  6 
 affiliate  knew  about  this.  People  called  in  and  requested  7 
 me.  And  because  I'm  local,  and  a  lot  of  them  told  me  about  8 
 it.  And  you  would  think  that  because  I  was  making  such  9 
 major  inroads  nationally  that  the  station  would  have  been  10 
 thrilled  to  support  me.  Not  once.  11 
 And,  in  fact,  the  people  who  called  in  were  told  12 
 by  the  DJs  that  the  DJs  wanted  to  play  me,  but  management  13 
 was  going  to  have  to  change  the  programming.  14 
 And  on  top  of  that,  when  this  issue  came  to  light  15 
 earlier  this  spring  and  received  some  publicity,  the  station  16 
 said  well,  it's  because  Tift's  record  company  didn't  contact  17 
 us,  which  was  absolutely,  probably  the  truth  because  my  18 
 record  company,  who  I  have  a  wonderful  relationship  with,  19 
 did  make  the  decision  that  they  were  not  going  to  spend  a  20 
 lot  of  money  on  an  expensive  radio  campaign.  21 
 Do  you  understand  what  that  means?  It  costs  money  22 
 to  get  on  the  radio.  And,  you  know,  these  executives  are  23 
 really  smart,  but  they're  not  smart  enough  they  want  me  to  24 
 pay  it  back,  so  they  put  it  on  my  royalty  statement  of  what  25 
39
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  40 
 I'm  financially  responsible  to  them  for.  So  it's,  you  know,  1 
 it's  there.  2 
 I  think  in  my  instance  I  don't  understand  how  the  3 
 airwaves  can  be  a  place  of  healthy  competition.  For  4 
 example,  radio  conglomerates  claim  that  programming  is  5 
 localized,  and  I  don't  see  how  this  can  be  true  in  this  6 
 case.  And  deregulation  proponents  claim  that  the  airwaves  7 
 are  public.  But  how,  when  a  station  disregarded  listeners  8 
 in  the  signal  range,  how  can  that  be  true?  9 
 I  want  to  make  it  very  clear  that  I'm  a  realistic,  10 
 small  businesswoman  and  that  I  was  locked  out  of  competition  11 
 and  isolated  from  my  main  line  to  my  audience.  The  fewer  12 
 the  radio  station  owners,  the  fewer  and  the  --  the  less  the  13 
 concern  about  content.  The  more  monotony  on  every  play  14 
 list,  the  more  I  will  be  locked  out  and  thousands,  15 
 thousands,  thousands  of  people  like  me  will  be  in  that  16 
 situation.  17 
 And  these  are  people  that  bring  500  to  2,  000  18 
 people  to  your  main  street  on  any  given  night.  They  fill  19 
 your  restaurants,  they  use  FedEx,  they  use  hotels.  These  20 
 are  legitimate  people  who  contribute  to  the  economy.  But  21 
 most  importantly,  they  bring  their  music  and  they're  going  22 
 to  be  silenced.  23 
 Commissioner,  the  new  media  rules  incorporating  24 
 clear  standards  for  local  programming  are  important,  but  25 
40
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  41 
 local  initiative  that  refuses  to  recognize  the  role  that  1 
 concentrated  media  plays  in  stifling  local  voices  simply  2 
 elevates  window-  dressing  over  true  substance.  3 
 And  in  North  Carolina  if  you  want  to  talk  about  4 
 local  musicians,  you're  talking  about  John  Coltrane,  you're  5 
 talking  about  Roberta  Flack,  Doc  Watson,  Max  Roach,  Earl  6 
 Scruggs,  people  who  not  only  made  this  state  unique,  but  7 
 have  shaped  the  heritage  of  our  country  and  are  reknown  8 
 around  the  world.  9 
 If  you  give  young  musicians  no  possibility  of  10 
 making  a  living,  if  you  give  the  radio  waves  to  people  with  11 
 no  regard  for  music  or  localism  or  content,  if  you  stifle  12 
 the  musical  outlets  with  an  unfettered  interest  in  the  13 
 bottom  line,  you  will  scatter  not  only  the  next  generation  14 
 of  North  Carolina  talent,  but  49  other  states  worth  because  15 
 they  will  have  to  find  something  more  feasible  than  an  16 
 instrument  to  voice  their  sorrow  and  their  joy.  17 
 Thank  you  for  your  time.  18 
 (Applause.)  19 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you,  Ms.  Merritt,  for  that  20 
 passionate  recitation.  21 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I  was  hoping  to  be  charming,  but  I  22 
 didn't  know  I'd  only  have  three  minutes.  I  was  told  five.  23 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  It  was  a  righteous  five,  though.  24 
 Our  fourth  panelist  is  Ms.  Joan  Siefert  Rose,  General  25 
41
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  42 
 Manager  of  WUNC-  FM.  We're  very  happy  to  have  you  here,  and  1 
 please  proceed.  2 
 MS.  ROSE:  I'm  glad  to  be  here,  and  I'm  also  very  3 
 pleased  to  tell  you  that  Tift  Merritt  can  be  heard  on  WUNC,  4 
 as  well  as  on  many  other  public  stations  across  the  state.  5 
 It  is  an  honor  for  those  of  us  down  on  the  left-  hand  side  of  6 
 the  FM  band  to  address  the  Commission's  Task  Force  on  7 
 Localism  on  behalf  of  noncommercial  broadcasters  in  the  8 
 state.  9 
 The  topic  of  the  hearing  today  which  is  local  10 
 public  service  really  touches  upon  my  core  responsibility  as  11 
 a  public  broadcaster.  I'm  sure  that  most  of  you  here  have  12 
 tuned  in  to  public  radio  at  some  point.  North  Carolina  has  13 
 15  different  public  radio  licensees  offering  news,  public  14 
 affairs,  classical  music,  jazz,  bluegrass,  hip-  hop,  reggae,  15 
 community  service  announcements,  and  reading  services  to  the  16 
 blind.  17 
 And  we  have  a  combined  weekly  audience  of  1.  3  18 
 million  listeners  across  the  state,  so  it's  a  significant  19 
 audience  that  is  reached  in  North  Carolina.  20 
 One  of  the  licensees  is  WUNC  public  radio.  We're  21 
 a  news  and  public  affairs  service,  with  bluegrass  music  on  22 
 the  weekends,  licensed  to  the  University  of  North  Carolina  23 
 at  Chapel  Hill.  We  serve  300,000  weekly  listeners  in  36  24 
 counties  in  North  Carolina.  25 
42
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  43 
 We  don't  receive  any  direct  funds  from  either  the  1 
 university  or  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  And  in  a  typical  2 
 year  we  receive  less  than  ten  percent  of  our  operating  3 
 dollars  from  the  Federal  Corporation  for  Public  4 
 Broadcasting.  We  must  rely  on  the  generous  support  of  the  5 
 local  community  of  listeners  to  keep  us  on  the  air.  6 
 Therefore,  we  really  do  depend  on  the  extent  of  7 
 the  service  we  provide  responsive  to  the  needs  and  interests  8 
 of  our  local  listeners  that  we  serve.  9 
 As  a  public  broadcaster,  WUNC  is  an  editorial  10 
 voice  that  speaks  with  a  North  Carolina  accent.  That  is,  we  11 
 live  and  we  breathe  the  stories  we  report.  Local  12 
 programming  is  personally  very  important  to  me.  13 
 I  was  moved  by  Congressman  Price's  discussion  of  14 
 his  brief  career  at  a  1,  000  watt  station,  because  when  I  15 
 became  a  broadcast  journalist  25  years  ago,  the  industry  16 
 required  each  radio  station  to  provide  a  minimum  amount  of  17 
 local  news  and  public  affairs.  I  learned  my  craft  at  small  18 
 stations  just  like  that  and  practiced  it  in  increasingly  19 
 larger  markets  of  commercial  stations.  20 
 Although  commercial  stations  no  longer  face  21 
 specific  local  programming  requirements,  local  news  and  22 
 public  affairs  programming  remain  the  very  foundation  of  23 
 public  broadcasting.  24 
 While  commercial  broadcasters  still  do  perform  25 
43
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  44 
 many  valuable  services,  and  is  ably  documented  by  the  panel  1 
 here  this  evening,  we  are  unique  in  our  ability  as  a  non-  2 
 commercial  station  to  dedicate  enormous  amounts  of  our  time  3 
 and  resources  to  creating  purely  local  programming.  4 
 The  FCC  can  help  support  the  strong  local  5 
 programming  on  non-  commercial  stations  like  WUNC.  You  can  6 
 help  by  protecting  the  technical  integrity  of  our  broadcast  7 
 signals  by  enforcing  non-  interference  technical  standards  in  8 
 a  fair,  reasonable  and  timely  manner.  9 
 I'd  like  to  point  out  that  WUNC  recently  incurred  10 
 an  expensive  and  lengthy  technical  challenge  at  the  FCC  11 
 against  an  interfering  translator  station.  I  also  want  to  12 
 point  out  that  most  public  stations  do  not  have  the  13 
 financial  or  legal  resources  to  do  so.  14 
 We  very  much  encourage  diverse  voices  and  15 
 viewpoints  and  welcome  new  broadcasters  to  the  spectrum,  but  16 
 we  also  want  to  point  out  that  it  should  not  be  done  --  the  17 
 signal  should  not  be  at  the  expense  of  existing  public  18 
 stations  that  provide  excellent  service  to  listeners.  19 
 I  also  wish  in  closing  to  pay  tribute  to  UNC  20 
 television,  public  television  stations  serving  more  than  two  21 
 million  viewers  every  week  across  the  state,  and  also  to  the  22 
 public  TV  station  and  the  public  radio  station  here  in  23 
 Charlotte.  Their  stewardship  to  the  community  sets  a  24 
 standard  that  is  the  envy  of  public  television  and  radio  25 
44
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  45 
 broadcasters  across  the  country.  1 
 My  fuller  statement  is  being  submitted  for  the  2 
 record  along  with  a  voluminous  set  of  letters  from  listeners  3 
 and  viewers  to  the  local  public  --  to  their  local  radio  and  4 
 television  stations  talking  about  the  service  that  has  been  5 
 provided,  and  I  thank  you  very  much  for  this  opportunity.  6 
 (Applause.)  7 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  for  your  presentation  8 
 and  we'll  now  allow  questions  of  the  panelists.  And  if  you  9 
 haven't  filled  out  your  card,  please  do  so  and  send  them  10 
 forward.  I  invite  my  colleagues  to  ask  any  questions  they  11 
 might  have.  12 
 I'd  like  to  start  with  a  question  at  least  for  the  13 
 two  commercial  broadcasters  and  I  think  even  public  14 
 broadcasting  would  have  something  to  say  about  it.  15 
 On  the  way  down  in  the  plane  I  was  reading  a  16 
 number  of  E-  mails  that  we've  already  begun  to  receive  at  our  17 
 localism  site  about  this  area,  and  I  want  to  read  one  18 
 criticism  and  ask  a  question  about  it.  19 
 This  local  resident  writes:  I'd  like  to  state  my  20 
 support  for  any  initiative  which  allows  more  local  21 
 controlled  media  outlet.  The  trend  has  been  away  from  22 
 anything  local  in  the  way  of  radio  broadcast.  Every  day  we  23 
 hear  about  radio  stations  being  bought  up  by  conglomerates,  24 
 in  many  cases,  American  corporations.  25 
45
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  46 
 Who's  to  say  that  they're  --  what  their  agendas  1 
 really  are?  They  certainly  don't  have  local  community  2 
 interest  at  heart,  and  the  end  result  is  driving  out  local  3 
 culture.  The  corporation's,  by  necessities,  desire  is  to  4 
 increase  its  bottom  line,  and  that's  inherently  incompatible  5 
 with  local  interests.  6 
 A  lot  of  times  that  is  the  sentiment  that  7 
 underlies  the  tension  between  commercial  or  corporate  8 
 broadcasting  and  the  public  interest,  that  they  are  in  some  9 
 sense  incompatible,  that  somehow  serving  the  bottom  line  or  10 
 being  profitable  is  not  consistent  with  that.  11 
 And  I'd  ask  all  of  you  to  comment  on  that  or  offer  12 
 some  dimension  to  that  if  you'd  like.  I'd  even  be  willing  13 
 to  bet  that  there  are  broadcasters  on  the  other  side  who  14 
 wish  to  speak  to  it  to  answer.  15 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Well,  I'll  attempt  to  answer  that.  I  16 
 think  first  of  all  one  of  the  distressful  things  we  see  in  17 
 television  in  a  lot  of  the  small  markets  is  given  the  cost  18 
 of  competition  and  operation  and  particularly  with  the  19 
 digital  conversion,  a  lot  of  small  market  owners  are  in  20 
 financial  trouble.  21 
 That  is,  they  make  a  profit,  but  they  do  not  have  22 
 the  kind  of  resources  to  invest  in  the  kind  of  services  they  23 
 might  like  to  have.  Those  are  individual  cases.  I  will  24 
 speak  only  to  my  own  company.  25 
46
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  47 
 I  am  proud  to  say  that  if  you  went  into  any  of  our  1 
 markets,  I  don't  think  anyone  in  the  market  would  know  who  2 
 Liberty  Corporation  is,  and  we  designed  it  that  way.  We  try  3 
 very  hard  not  to  be  a  corporate  entity.  We  are  local  4 
 television  stations.  Our  local  managers  head  the  United  5 
 Way,  we  do  Red  Cross  blood  drives,  we  do  all  those  things  6 
 that  identifies  us  in  the  community.  7 
 So  in  Liberty  Corporation's  --  at  least  in  our  8 
 situation,  I  don't  think  that  really  applies  because  in  our  9 
 markets  other  than  the  little  disclaimer  we  put  up  at  the  10 
 end  of  the  newscasts  that,  you  know,  owned  by  Liberty  11 
 Corporation,  which  is  required  by  law  as  identification,  no  12 
 one  knows  who  we  are,  and  we  like  it  that  way.  13 
 We  want  them  to  know  who  the  local  management,  the  14 
 local  talent,  the  local  programming  and  the  local  station  15 
 are.  16 
 MS.  KWEI:  Just  to  kind  of  follow  up  on  that,  I  17 
 would  agree  and  I  think  most  of  the  FM  broadcast  radio  18 
 stations  in  the  market  pretty  much  do  the  same  thing,  and  19 
 that  is  we  all  stamp,  if  you  will,  our  local  stations  versus  20 
 our  company  headquarters.  When  we're  on  the  air  we  speak  of  21 
 our  individual  stations,  not  the  corporate  owners.  22 
 Just  to  kind  of  follow  up  on  what  you  said,  I  23 
 totally  --  I  agree  with  you  somewhat  and  I  agree  with  that  24 
 person  somewhat  because  I  think  that  there  is  always,  always  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  48 
 a  striving  on  our  part  to  do  better.  I  don't  think  any  1 
 broadcaster  in  this  room  or  elsewhere  can  honestly  sit  and  2 
 say  that  they're  doing  everything  right.  3 
 On  a  day-  to-  day  basis  we  sit  and  we  meet  locally,  4 
 I  think  our  COO  and  our  director  of  sales  nationally  meet  5 
 daily,  weekly,  trying  to  figure  out  ways  and  find  ways  in  6 
 which  we  can  do  a  better  job.  7 
 Revenue  is  a  big  part  of  what  we  do.  We  are  8 
 commercial  radio  stations,  but  at  the  same  time  we  have  a  9 
 responsibility.  In  our  case  we  have  a  responsibility  to  the  10 
 community  at  large,  we  have  a  responsibility  to  the  African-  11 
 American  community  to  uphold  certain  standards,  to  follow  12 
 policies  and  guidelines  set  by  the  FCC,  which  we  all  do,  and  13 
 again,  we  try  our  best  to  do  it  better  on  a  day-  to-  day  14 
 basis.  15 
 So  I  hear  that  person  loud  and  clear,  and  I  think  16 
 it  would  be  very  easy  for  us  to  sit  here  and  say  that  that's  17 
 not  true,  where  what  I  think  we're  trying  to  say  is  to  a  18 
 certain  degree  it  is  true,  but  we  have  to  do  a  better  job  19 
 daily  in  trying  to  overcome  that.  20 
 MS.  ROSE:  Even  as  a  public  broadcaster  certainly  21 
 we  can  do  more  to  reflect  our  local  community.  However,  I  22 
 think  we  are  naturally  aligned  in  the  fact  that  our  23 
 contributions  and  our  operating  dollars  largely  come  from  24 
 individual  listeners.  So  to  the  extent  that  our  programming  25 
48
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  49 
 is  responsive  to  their  needs,  they  will  contribute.  And  if  1 
 they  don't  contribute,  then  we  know  we  are  not  meeting  their  2 
 needs.  3 
 We  get  a  report  card  very  quickly  on  that,  so  I  4 
 would  say  I  would  agree  with  the  other  speakers  that  we  5 
 could  do  more  certainly  and  we  intend  to  as  our  resources  6 
 grow  and  as  we  meet  the  needs  of  listeners  we  anticipate  the  7 
 contributions  will  increase.  8 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Let  me  just  ask  one  question  9 
 while  we  wait  for  the  cards,  and  I'll  ask  it  of  Jim  Keelor.  10 
 The  right  of  a  local  station  or  an  affiliated  station  to  11 
 reject  a  program  strikes  a  lot  of  people,  including  me,  as  12 
 integral  to  preserving  localism  and  this  raises  its  head  13 
 particularly  in  the  matter  of  indecent  programming  that  14 
 might  be  contrary  to  the  values  of  a  community.  15 
 How  important  is  the  right  to  reject  and  is  it  a  16 
 problem  for  you  or  for  other  independent  stations  that  you  17 
 know  of  to  reject  a  network  feed  that  you  deem  unacceptable  18 
 to  the  values  of  the  local  community?  19 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Well,  Commissioner  Copps,  I  think  20 
 you're  correct  in  that  the  right  to  reject  rule  for  50  years  21 
 the  Commission  has  recognized  that  as  a  core  of  localism  and  22 
 we'd  like  to  see  that  continued.  23 
 The  dynamics  of  the  network  affiliate  relationship  24 
 changed  so  much  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  preempt  network  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  50 
 programming.  But  I  think  you  also  have  to  realize  that  the  1 
 right  to  reject  rule  insists  that  the  licensee  is  really  the  2 
 sole  determiner  of  the  quality  and  content  of  a  program  for  3 
 the  local  market.  4 
 And  there  are  also  times  when  a  local  program,  be  5 
 it  a  high  school  championship,  a  student  debate,  a  town  hall  6 
 meeting,  might  take  precedent  over  a  network  program.  And  7 
 that  --  I'm  not  talking  about  a  news  event  now,  I'm  talking  8 
 about  a  community  event.  And  I  think  a  station  should  have  9 
 the  right  to  reject  to  do  that.  10 
 In  the  dynamics  that  exist  today,  it  is  difficult  11 
 to  make  that  happen  and  getting  more  difficult.  And  I  think  12 
 that's  why  the  affiliated  stations  group  filed  a  petition  to  13 
 the  Commission  more  than  two  years  ago  asking  them  to  simply  14 
 reaffirm,  not  create  new  law,  but  reaffirmed  what  has  been  a  15 
 fifty  year  tradition  of  the  right  to  reject.  16 
 And  the  petition  is  still  there  and  has  not  been  17 
 acted  on,  and  I  think  that  if  you  really  want  to  see  18 
 something  that  can  drive  localism  and  ensure  it  for  the  19 
 future,  we  would  like  to  see  the  Commission  clarify  and  20 
 reaffirm  its  fifty  year  support  of  the  right  to  reject  rule.  21 
 COMMISSIONER  ADELSTEIN:  Ms.  Merritt,  you  said  22 
 something  that  caught  my  attention.  You  said  essentially  23 
 that  you  have  to  pay  for  play  on  radio,  that  the  label  or  24 
 you  are  forced  to  pay.  That's  commonly  known  as  payola.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  51 
 I'm  wondering  if  you  understand  that's  a  violation  1 
 of  the  law,  that  --  2 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Do  you  mean  do  I  understand?  3 
 COMMISSIONER  ADELSTEIN:  Well,  you  --  4 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I  have  not  violated  the  law.  I  5 
 understand  it.  6 
 COMMISSIONER  ADELSTEIN:  Let  me  explain  to  you  the  7 
 situation,  that  the  law  requires  that  if  a  station  requires  8 
 payment  for  play  of  something  on  the  radio,  that  that  be  9 
 disclosed.  Now,  that's  pretty  much  acceptable  for  that  to  10 
 happen,  but  the  station  has  to  say  brought  to  you  by  EMI  11 
 Records  is  such  and  such  an  artist.  12 
 Now,  you  mentioned  this  was  a  line  item  on  your  13 
 statement  as  if  they  were  charging  you  directly,  and  I'm  14 
 just  wondering  if  you're  suggesting  that  payola  is  keeping  15 
 local  artists  like  yourself  off  of  the  radio.  16 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Well,  there's  a  system  in  place  and  17 
 it's  absolutely  naive  to  think  that  pay  for  play  doesn't  go  18 
 on.  There  are  elaborate  ways  of  independent  promotion,  that  19 
 this  completely  happens.  I'd  like  to  cite  an  Observer  20 
 article  from  Saturday,  October  18th,  about  country  radio.  21 
 And  it  says:  but  Logan,  the  first  subject  in  22 
 this,  acknowledged  that  many  veteran  acts,  veteran  musical  23 
 acts,  now  record  for  small  independent  labels  that  don't  24 
 have  a  lot  of  promotional  muscle.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  52 
 I'll  ask  you,  what  do  you  think  promotional  muscle  1 
 is?  I  think  it's  money;  right?  I  mean,  maybe  you  should  2 
 call  these  guys  and  ask  them  too,  but  there  is  certainly  a  3 
 system  in  place.  You  know,  I've  heard  of  people  getting  a  4 
 bill  from  a  radio  station  when  they  were  played.  5 
 COMMISSIONER  ADELSTEIN:  That's  something  that  6 
 deserves  further  investigation.  Certainly  I'll  follow  up  7 
 this  question  to  you,  Joan  Siefert  Rose.  8 
 You  said  that  Tift  Merritt  could  be  heard  on  WUNC.  9 
 Do  you  think  that  has  anything  to  do  with  the  fact  that  10 
 you're  a  non-  commercial  station  so  obviously  payola  doesn't  11 
 enter  the  picture?  I  mean,  does  that  possibly  have  to  do  12 
 with  any  evidence  of  this  kind  of  activity  in  the  radio  13 
 business?  14 
 MS.  ROSE:  You  know,  I  really  can't  speak  on  15 
 behalf  of  commercial  broadcasters  here.  I  only  know  that  16 
 our  policies  are  to  give  exposure  to  local  artists.  This  is  17 
 part  of  our  mandate  as  a  non-  commercial  station.  18 
 And  one  of  the  programs  that  we  have  on  the  19 
 weekend  really  focuses  on  traditional  music  and  bluegrass  20 
 music  and  country  music  for  the  area.  So  Tift  is  a  very  21 
 logical  artist  for  us  to  play,  very  popular  with  our  22 
 listeners.  So  in  our  case  we  really  are  motivated  to  23 
 provide  talent  and  recordings  that  we  think  would  be  24 
 something  that  our  listeners  would  like  to  hear,  and  that's  25 
52
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  53 
 about  as  simple  as  it  gets.  1 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I'd  like  to  read  a  couple  2 
 questions  here.  I'd  like  to  read  two  of  them  and  then  maybe  3 
 we'll  go  into  the  open  mike  session  and  continue  the  4 
 discussion.  5 
 The  first  is  for  Mr.  Keelor.  It's  in  reference  to  6 
 free  time  for  candidates  during  debates  and  candidate  7 
 interviews.  8 
 Isn't  it  a  legal  requirement  for  licensing  in  9 
 exchange  for  use  of  the  public  airwaves?  What  measures  do  10 
 you  take  to  ensure  fair  and  equal  airtime  for  all  11 
 candidates,  and  does  that  include  third-  party  candidates?  12 
 MR.  KEELOR:  It  does,  sir.  All  of  the  Liberty  13 
 stations  during  the  last  mayoral  elections  offered  14 
 candidates  free  time  in  various  formats  other  than  15 
 newscasts.  A  five,  three-  minute,  two-  minute  segment  where  16 
 they  could  come  in  and  tape  any  statement  they  wanted  to  17 
 make  and  it  would  be  carried  in  various  day  parts;  some  in  18 
 prime,  some  late  night,  some  early  and  so  forth.  So  we  made  19 
 that  effort.  20 
 We've  also  opened  up,  and  we  were  disappointed  by  21 
 the  candidates  response  to  our  offer  of  a  free  internet  22 
 platform.  We  asked  them  to  put  their  campaign  positions,  23 
 their  bios  and  so  forth  on  our  websites.  And  because  our  24 
 stations  are,  for  the  most  part,  I  think  13  of  15  are  number  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  54 
 one  stations,  we  drive  a  lot  of  viewers  to  our  websites.  And  1 
 we  were  disappointed  that  only  one  or  two  took  advantage  of  2 
 that.  3 
 I  think  my  point  here  is  we  have  multiple  4 
 platforms  now  to  make  candidates  available.  If  we  can  get  5 
 digital  up  and  running  and  can  multicast,  I  see  a  huge  6 
 opportunity  for  us  to  provide  more  airtime  to  candidates  7 
 using  the  digital  spectrum,  and  I  think  that's  in  our  8 
 company's  game  plan.  9 
 So  free  time  is  something  we  do  routinely.  We  10 
 certainly  provide  a  lot  of  coverage  during  our  newscasts.  11 
 We  have  done  live  debates  which  have  been  picked  up  by  12 
 national  networks  and  we  have  offered  our  website.  So  we're  13 
 trying  to  give  them  multiple  platforms.  We  do  not  always  14 
 get  the  cooperation  of  the  candidates  that  we  would  like  to  15 
 get.  16 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  A  second  question  17 
 which  I  think  is  interesting:  :  Will  calls  for  more  public  18 
 service  from  broadcast  stations  be  used  as  an  excuse  to  19 
 punish  smaller  stations  not  affiliated  with  large  20 
 corporations?  21 
 For  example,  a  small  and  independent  station  has  a  22 
 much  harder  time  maintaining  profits  than  a  corporate  23 
 affiliated  station  that  can  afford  to  run  at  a  loss  by  24 
 borrowing  profits  from  other  partner  stations.  For  that  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  55 
 reason  corporate  stations  must  be  held  to  a  higher  1 
 standard.  2 
 What  I  think  is  interesting  in  the  question  is  the  3 
 suggestion  that  if  there  were  government  mandates  for  public  4 
 interest  obligations,  should  they  be  in  some  ways  graduated,  5 
 given  the  nature  of  the  station;  that  a  smaller  station  6 
 under  perhaps  greater  financial  difficulty  would  have  fewer  7 
 public  interest  obligations.  8 
 MR.  KEELOR:  What  I  was  alluding  to  before  in  the  9 
 smaller  markets  is  that  to  provide  good  service,  you  must  10 
 have  the  resources  to  do  so.  And  the  fifth  station,  the  WB  11 
 station  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa  may  not  have  those  resources.  12 
 I  think  public  interest  standards  in  some  degree  13 
 are  acceptable.  I  don't  object  to  them  philosophically.  14 
 What  I  have  always  objected  to  them  is  the  basis  that  they  15 
 are  terrible  administrative  burdens,  and  that  we  spend  so  16 
 much  time  administering  what  the  government  wants  done  that  17 
 we  could  be  devoting  to  serving  the  public.  That's  been  my  18 
 concern  with  going  back  to  the  Fairness  Doctrine  and  various  19 
 other  things.  20 
 But  to  answer  specifically,  I  think  they  need  to  21 
 be  applied  uniformly  if  you're  going  to  have  them.  I  22 
 question  to  what  degree  you  need  them.  The  Commission  23 
 obviously  in  the  past  several  years  has  believed  we  do  not.  24 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  The  next  question,  --  and  we'll  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  56 
 take  a  few  minutes  to  get  through  more  of  these  before  we  go  1 
 to  open  mic  since  they  are  also  from  the  audience.  2 
 The  question  here,  to  discuss  the  personal  attack  3 
 regulations:  If  a  radio  station  broadcasts  a  personal  4 
 attack  on  a  non-  public  figure,  is  the  station  required  to  5 
 provide  a  copy  of  the  attack  to  the  individual?  What  are  6 
 the  penalties  for  not  following  the  personal  attack  7 
 regulation?  8 
 I  believe  I  can  answer  this  question.  The  9 
 Commission  had  personal  attack  rules  which  were  ultimately  10 
 struck  down  in  court  and  don't  currently  exist  in  the  11 
 Commission  rules  as  a  consequence  of  a  case  called  RTNDA  12 
 (phonetic),  if  I  recall  correctly,  so  regrettably  we  don't  13 
 have  rules  that  we're  capable  of  enforcing  in  that  area  at  14 
 the  moment.  15 
 In  order  to  criticize  the  Chair,  I  should  ask  this  16 
 question.  Why  are  the  questions  from  the  audience  being  17 
 filtered  by  the  staff  members  before  they  get  to  the  18 
 Commissioners?  19 
 (Laughter.)  20 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  don't  know.  I  hope  they're  21 
 not.  We'll  do  the  best  we  can  to  get  to  all  the  questions  22 
 fairly,  and  you'll  be  provided  with  open  mic  time  and  nobody  23 
 will  be  filtering  through  the  microphone.  So  if  we  are,  I  24 
 apologize  for  that.  25 
56
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  57 
 A  question  for  our  broadcast  owners:  What  1 
 efforts  do  you  take  to  try  to  inform  your  employees  about  a  2 
 station's  --  from  the  station's  perspective  about  guidelines  3 
 for  airing  local  artists?  Do  you  have  some  outlines  or  4 
 training  for  employees  to  help  with  this?  5 
 MS.  KWEI:  Yes,  we  do.  And  I  have  to  tell  you,  6 
 over  the  last  several  months  or  the  last,  really,  last  year  7 
 it's  gotten  a  lot  better  where  we  have  a  --  we  have  some  8 
 standards  set  in  place  where  weekly  our  program  directors  9 
 and  our  music  directors  are  instructed  by  myself,  the  10 
 general  manager,  and  it  comes  from  the  headquarters,  that  we  11 
 have  to  allow  access  for  local  artists  and  independent  12 
 labels  to  pitch  their  product,  quite  frankly.  We  do  that  on  13 
 a  weekly  basis.  14 
 Often  times  it  may  be  a  face-  to-  face  meeting  or  it  15 
 may  be  a  phone  conversation,  but  we  have  put  those  measures  16 
 in  place  over  the  last  several  months  in  an  effort,  once  17 
 again,  to  do  better.  18 
 We  have  a  program,  as  I  mentioned  in  my  opening  19 
 statement,  on  Sunday  evenings  called  Heat  From  the  Street,  20 
 and  it  is  hosted  by  some  young  local  people,  and  the  primary  21 
 goal  of  that  program  a  lot  like  the  bluegrass  program,  is  to  22 
 provide  a  platform  for  local  artists  to  be  heard.  23 
 We  listen  for  what  the  public  wants,  and  often  24 
 times  --  and  I  did  mention  this  one  artist  named  Sherica,  --  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  58 
 we  will  hear  a  lot  of  rave  reviews  from  some  particular  1 
 artist  that  will  end  up  getting  play  on  our  radio  station.  2 
 Or  in  our  cases  we  have  invited  a  lot  of  our  local  artists  3 
 who  have  risen  to  that  point  to  perform  at  some  of  our  4 
 events.  5 
 So  those  are  some  of  the  efforts  that  we  have  6 
 instituted  to  make  sure  that  we're  doing  the  best  that  we  7 
 can,  and  again  on  a  day-  to-  day  basis  trying  to  get  better.  8 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  What  ideas  do  any  of  you  have  9 
 as  broadcasters  to  make  local  coverage  of  local  political  10 
 campaigns  a  lot  more  interesting?  11 
 From  my  perspective,  simply  airing  debates  isn't  12 
 enough,  and  ads  often  turn  voters  off.  Can  anyone  be  more  13 
 creative?  Good  luck  with  that  one.  14 
 (Laughter.)  15 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Sometimes  we're  the  victims  of  the  16 
 subject  matter  we  have  to  cover.  17 
 (Applause.)  18 
 Ironically,  because  we  are  not  a  newspaper  and  you  19 
 cannot  print  another  page,  we  have  a  finite  amount  of  20 
 airtime  and  a  finite  amount  of  commercial  time.  And  it  is  21 
 true  in  our  stations'  cases  that  we  are  not  able  to  devote  22 
 as  much  time  to  maybe  to  the  agricultural  secretary  race  or  23 
 something  like  that,  that  we  do  the  county  commission,  city  24 
 council  and  so  forth.  I  think  we  have  to  prioritize  and  I  25 
58
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  59 
 think  the  public  understands  that.  1 
 But  the  invitation  that  we  made  for  free  time  went  2 
 out  to  all  candidates  and  the  internet  offer  went  out  to  all  3 
 candidates.  So  that's  when  we  were  really  disappointed  that  4 
 we  really  didn't  get  access  to  that  because  I  think  it's  our  5 
 obligation  to  provide  access  and  to  provide  the  platform,  6 
 but  I  don't  see  any  way  we  can  make  the  candidates  come  or  7 
 make  the  people  see  it.  8 
 MS.  ROSE:  In  our  case  we  do  have  some  long  form  9 
 interview  programs  also  where  candidates  have  a  chance  to  10 
 talk  at  length  about  their  platforms  and  interests.  We  tend  11 
 to  focus  on  larger  races,  senate  races,  statewide  races  or  12 
 congressional  races  as  opposed  to  township  races.  But  that  13 
 opportunity  is  there,  particularly  when  a  race  is  heated.  14 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  To  Ms.  Merritt,  there's  a  15 
 question  for  you.  What  other  means  can  be  used  to  keep  the  16 
 airwaves  free  other  than  having  to  rely  on  commercial  17 
 advertising?  18 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Well,  commercial  advertising,  do  you  19 
 mean  air  play?  20 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  don't  know.  21 
 MS.  MERRITT:  It's  kind  of  the  same  thing,  isn't  22 
 it?  23 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Well,  if  I  can  elaborate.  24 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Please  do.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  60 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I'm  reading  the  mind  of  someone,  1 
 but  I  think  the  suggestion  is  one  thing  that  we  keep  in  mind  2 
 is  that  in  our  system  of  broadcasting,  the  government  3 
 doesn't  fund  or  subsidize  the  media  at  all.  4 
 In  a  lot  of  countries,  like  Commissioner  Adelstein  5 
 mentioned,  in  England,  the  government  deals  with  a  lot  of  6 
 the  concerns  we're  raising  by  having  a  government-  sponsored  7 
 medium,  the  BBC.  Citizens  are  taxed  roughly  $150  per  year,  8 
 regardless  if  they're  watching  in  order  to  subsidize  the  9 
 cost  of  that  programming.  10 
 And  we  certainly  have  public  broadcasting  in  the  11 
 United  States,  so  the  commercial  motives  of  advertising  are  12 
 absolutely  essential  to  the  survival  of  stations  in  our  13 
 system.  So  I  guess  maybe  someone's  reacting  to  your  point  14 
 about  advertising  and  being  all  they  care  about.  15 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Mr.  Chairman,  --  16 
 MS.  MERRITT:  Well,  it's  my  turn.  17 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Go  ahead.  18 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I,  you  know,  I  really  am  just  taking  19 
 what  the  Clear  Channel  president  said,  so  I'm  not  changing  20 
 his  words  and,  you  know,  I  think  that  my  impression  was  I'm  21 
 very  confused  about  what  the  question  was.  22 
 Are  there  other  means  for  me  besides  the  radio?  23 
 Yes,  there  certainly  are.  And  if  you'll  read  my  bio,  I  24 
 think  you'll  see  that  I  have  used  them  very  well.  I  tour  25 
60
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  61 
 all  around  the  country  and  in  Europe,  and  I  get  a  lot  of  1 
 exposure  in  magazines.  2 
 Unfortunately  it's  very  difficult  to  even  break  3 
 even  as  a  musician,  and  there  is  no  contesting  that  the  4 
 radio  is  the  main  source  that  people  turn  to  when  they  want  5 
 to  hear  a  song.  And  so  as  a  musician  and  my  colleagues  who  6 
 are  musicians  and  artists,  to  have  access  to  that  medium  7 
 defiltered  for  the  majority  in  this  country  through  two  or  8 
 three  large  companies  really  means  that  our  chances  are  9 
 very,  very  slim.  10 
 And,  you  know,  I  agree  with  you,  Commissioner,  11 
 that  I'm  very  proud  that  the  government  does  not  get  12 
 involved  with  radio  in  this  country,  that  the  media  is  run  13 
 on  its  own,  that  it's  not  a  government  media.  14 
 But  by  the  same  hand,  these  companies  are  really  15 
 being  allowed  to  go  --  they  are  given  --  right  now  they  have  16 
 protection  because  they  can  become  as  large  as  they  want  and  17 
 they  can  be  concerned  with  their  bottom  line,  when  really  18 
 what  the  FCC  in  my  opinion,  humble  opinion,  is  about  is  19 
 protecting  the  airwaves  and  the  people  and  not  these  larger  20 
 companies  and  their  interest  in  profit.  And,  you  know,  I  21 
 think  it's  great  that  they're  doing  well,  but  their  job  is  22 
 content.  23 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I'm  going  to  ask  two  more  24 
 questions  and  then  we're  going  to  start  with  the  open  mic  25 
61
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  62 
 session.  1 
 Without  public  service,  specific  public  service  2 
 performance  standards,  how  do  you  as  broadcasters  know  how  3 
 to  meet  and  exceed  community  expectations?  4 
 MS.  KWEI:  Well,  in  our  situation  there  may  not  be  5 
 particular  guidelines,  but  quite  frankly  our  company  sets  6 
 their  own  guidelines  and  what  our  expectations  are  on  a  7 
 local  level.  Radio  One  expects  us  to  provide  a  certain  8 
 amount  of  public  service  airtime  for  local  organizations,  9 
 organizations,  events,  fundraising  and  things  of  that  10 
 nature.  11 
 We  also,  as  part  of  our  marketing  and  promotions  12 
 department,  and  I  would  say  this  is  probably  station  by  13 
 station,  we  reach  out  to  local  organizations  monthly  and  14 
 annually  trying  to  find  opportunities  in  which  we  can  help  15 
 them  get  the  word  out  about  their  particular  event,  in  some  16 
 cases  partner  up  with  them  and  make  their  event  even  larger  17 
 than  what  it  might  have  not  been  had  it  not  been  for  Radio  18 
 One's  involvement.  19 
 So  again,  just  in  our  isolated  situation  we're  20 
 told,  quite  frankly,  what  the  expectation  is.  And  it's  up  21 
 to  me  as  the  general  manager  to  make  sure  on  a  day-  to-  day  22 
 basis  that  we're  delivering  that  expectation.  23 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  And  finally  we're  asked  this  24 
 question,  because  I  want  to  take  a  chance  and  answer  it.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  63 
 Local  ownership  has  lost  control  and  diversity.  We  need  1 
 efforts  there  to  ensure  minority  ownership  and  more  2 
 programming  diversity.  What  could  we  do?  3 
 I  wanted  to  use  that  question  to  take  an  4 
 opportunity  to  talk  about  the  FCC  recently  launched  a  5 
 diversity  task  force,  or  what  we  call  a  federal  advisory  6 
 committee,  that  is  focused  intensely  on  the  question  of  7 
 minority  and  female  roles  in  the  media  and  the  8 
 communications  industry  at  large.  9 
 It's  composed  by  leading  citizens  throughout  the  10 
 country  who  are  dedicated  to  a  successful  commitment  to  11 
 diversity.  They  had  their  first  meeting  and  are  actively  12 
 working  on  policies  and  recommendations  to  the  Commission  13 
 and  the  government  that  we  can  follow  consistent  with  the  14 
 legal  restraints  to  promote  diversity.  15 
 And  I  know  that  Congressman  Watt  mentioned  the  16 
 importance  of  that,  and  I  want  to  invite  his  participation  17 
 in  that  and  let  you  all  know  that  and  answer  that  question.  18 
 So  with  that,  Madam  Secretary,  why  don't  you  19 
 announce  for  us  the  procedures  for  the  open  mic  and  we'll  20 
 proceed  to  that  section?  21 
 SECRETARY  DORTCH:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  22 
 Members  of  the  audience  who  wish  to  speak  should  line  up  at  23 
 the  nearest  lectern.  We  will  alternate  lecterns  during  the  24 
 session.  If  you  are  in  the  overflow  rooms  and  wish  to  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  64 
 speak,  please  come  to  the  meeting  chamber  and  we  will  1 
 accommodate  as  many  as  the  fire  marshall  permits.  A  staff  2 
 member  at  each  lectern  will  let  you  know  when  it  is  your  3 
 turn  to  speak.  4 
 In  the  interest  of  letting  as  many  people  present  5 
 their  views  as  possible,  speakers  should  limit  their  remarks  6 
 to  no  more  than  two  minutes.  The  green  light  will  signal  7 
 for  the  first  one  and  a  half  minutes.  When  the  yellow  light  8 
 signals,  you  will  have  thirty  seconds  to  sum  up  your  9 
 remarks.  10 
 Please  try  to  observe  these  minutes.  We  also  ask  11 
 that  you  turn  off  your  cell  phones.  Thank  you.  12 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Yes,  sir.  13 
 MR.  RASH:  Mr.  Chairman,  my  name  is  Dennis  Rash.  14 
 I  am  chairman  of  the  North  Carolina  Bicycle  Committee,  and  15 
 if  I  may  add  a  word  of  welcome  to  Charlotte  and  North  16 
 Carolina.  17 
 The  North  Carolina  Bicycle  Committee  was  created  18 
 by  the  North  Carolina  General  Assembly  to  assist  local  19 
 governments  in  developing  policies  and  standards  for  20 
 planning  and  maintaining  and  operating  bikeways  safely  21 
 across  North  Carolina.  We're  advisory  to  the  Secretary  of  22 
 the  Department  of  Transportation  and  to  the  Board  of  23 
 Transportation  in  furtherance  of  this  policy.  24 
 North  Carolina  has  the  second  largest  state  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  65 
 maintained  road  system  in  the  United  States.  We  are  1 
 specifically  charged  with  representing  the  interests  of  2 
 bicyclists  on  all  matters  concerning  bicycles  and  a  safer  3 
 environment  for  bicycling  in  North  Carolina.  And  it  is  that  4 
 safer  environment  that  I  wish  to  speak  to.  5 
 Here  is  a  case  study  of  localism  gone  amuck.  On  6 
 September  22  and  23,  Clear  Channel  Communications  Raleigh  7 
 affiliate,  G-  105,  during  morning  drive  time,  aired  an  8 
 extended  discussion  about  how  much  fun  it  was  for  the  9 
 motoring  public  to  run  cyclists  off  the  highways.  10 
 From  the  E-  mails  and  the  listener  comments  I've  11 
 received,  I  understand  the  G-  105  announcers  provoked  and  12 
 baited  their  call-  in  public  to  explore  ways  motorists  could  13 
 arrest  cyclists.  Several  ways  suggested  was  shooting  pellet  14 
 guns,  and  throwing  empty  bottles  at  passing  vehicles.  15 
 One  of  the  announcers  opined  that  he  would  enjoy  driving  his  16 
 bicycle  on  a  pathway.  17 
 North  Carolina  law  specifically  classifies  18 
 bicycles  as  vehicles  and  regulates  their  lawful  use.  So  the  19 
 announcer  was  dead  wrong  on  that.  As  a  matter  of  common  20 
 courtesy  and  safety,  he  was  beyond  wrong.  He  was  21 
 provocative  and  callous.  22 
 And  I  got  an  E-  mail  from  a  Chapel  Hill  cyclist  23 
 about  how  a  pickup  several  days  after  that  had  intentionally  24 
 crossed  the  center  line  and  run  him  off.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  66 
 Here  is  an  example  of  where  the  FCC,  if  it  chooses  1 
 to  expand  consolidation,  must  seek  additional  regulation  for  2 
 the  safety  of  the  public.  3 
 I  have  an  extended  statement  that  I  will  give  the  4 
 Secretary,  but  we  hope  very  much  that  you  will  take  this  5 
 into  consideration  in  your  rulemaking.  6 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  Just  for  the  record,  7 
 we  did  receive  complaints  about  that  at  the  very  end  of  8 
 September  and  our  enforcement  bureau  will  be  looking  into  9 
 that  matter,  so  thank  you  for  bringing  it  to  our  attention.  10 
 MS.  O'DANIEL:  My  name  is  MaryLee  O'Daniel.  I'm  11 
 here  to  voice  my  frustration  as  a  member  of  a  minority  that  12 
 is  largely  disserved  by  the  television  industry.  That  13 
 minority  is  the  blind.  I  know  that  we  have  had  the  14 
 wonderful  service  of  closed-  captioning  for  many  years  and  15 
 it's  wonderful.  16 
 There  has  also  been  available  audio  description,  17 
 but  I  only  know  of  two  places  where  I  can  access  programming  18 
 with  audio  description.  One  of  those  is  on  public  19 
 television,  the  television  system  that  can  least  afford  to  20 
 do  so,  and  the  other  one  is  one  movie  a  week  on  a  cable  21 
 movie  station.  22 
 I'm  well  aware  that  there  has  been  a  lobby  in  23 
 recent  times  to  require  television  networks  to  provide  24 
 approximately  four  hours  a  week  of  audio  described  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  67 
 programming  for  the  blind,  but  we  need  to  have  some  common  1 
 sense  about  that.  2 
 It  would  be  lots  of  fun  to  have  my  favorite  3 
 programs,  The  District  and  Whoopi  audioscribed,  but  it  would  4 
 take  away  a  lot  of  the  fun  of  listening  to  Whoopi  if  I  hear  5 
 that  beep,  beep,  beep  and  knew  that  the  severe  weather  6 
 warnings  were  being  scrolled  across  the  screen  and  I  would  7 
 have  no  idea  what  they  were.  8 
 I  appreciate  talking  with  you,  and  I  also  would  9 
 like  to  say  that  a  lot  of  our  stations  have  done  a  good  job  10 
 of  giving  public  service  announcements  and  repeating  the  11 
 telephone  numbers,  but  when  they  tell  me  on  the  radio  or  the  12 
 television  to  call  1-  800-  POWER-  ONE  when  my  power  is  out,  13 
 which  number  is  the  letter  P?  Is  it  six  or  seven?  And  14 
 which  number  is  the  letter  W?  Is  it  nine  or  zero?  15 
 We  do  need  audio  description  for  the  important  16 
 public  service  announcements  and  the  severe  weather  17 
 warnings.  Thank  you  very  much.  18 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  I  would  add  too  19 
 that's  something  we  would  urge  Congress  to  help  us  with.  20 
 The  Commission  did  once  have  audio  description,  but  was  also  21 
 struck  down  in  the  court.  So  we're  looking  to  Congress  to  22 
 hopefully  put  that  back.  23 
 Yes,  sir.  24 
 MR.  JOHNSON:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  also  would  like  to  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  68 
 welcome  you  to  Charlotte.  I  appreciate  personally  the  1 
 efforts  that  the  Commission  has  made  to  come  here  to  listen  2 
 to  the  public  about  certain  statements.  3 
 My  name  is  Harry  Johnson.  I  am  also  a  bicyclist  4 
 and  I'm  going  to  be  a  little  more  succinct  than  Mr.  Rash.  I  5 
 agree  with  him  completely.  6 
 I'm  incredulous,  absolutely  incredulous,  that  7 
 these  two  clowns  on  the  morning  drive  time  are  still  8 
 employed  by  the  station.  It's  unbelievable  to  me.  9 
 Promoting  bodily  harm  to  the  general  public  live,  on  the  10 
 air,  is  beyond  reason.  11 
 Contrary  to  what  Clear  Channel's  website  said,  and  12 
 you  can  go  on  it  very  clearly  and  it  says  what  kind  of  13 
 community  support  they're  involving  themselves  with,  it  is  a  14 
 concern  that  Clear  Channel  appears  to  be  promoting  a  pattern  15 
 of  community  abuse  for  the  sake  of  rating  points.  16 
 Bigger  is  not  better.  Bigger  insulates  17 
 management,  station  management.  Bigger  insulates  profits.  18 
 Bigger  insulates  ownerships  from  responsiveness  and  19 
 responsibilities  to  the  community  to  which  it  purportedly  20 
 serves.  Thank  you.  21 
 MR.  NEWMAN:  Hello.  My  name  is  Gray  Newman  and  I  22 
 was  elected  this  past  November  to  that  most  local  of  23 
 offices,  to  the  Mecklenburg  Soil  and  Water  Conservation  24 
 Board.  We're  all  the  way  at  the  bottom  of  the  ballot,  so  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  69 
 just  keep  on  going.  1 
 I  want  to  address  my  comments  to  Mr.  Keelor.  I  2 
 think  it's  wonderful  that  you  all  do  offer  free  advertising  3 
 or  free  announcements,  free  airtime  for  candidates  and  local  4 
 candidates.  If  that  was  available  here  in  Charlotte,  nobody  5 
 bothered  telling  us  about  it.  6 
 My  entire  budget  for  my  campaign  was  $700,  and  I  7 
 was  the  big  spender.  I  got  over  36,  000  votes.  That's  less  8 
 than  two  cents  a  vote.  And  if  something  like  free  web  space  9 
 or  free  airtime  had  been  available,  I  think  that  would  have  10 
 been  wonderful.  11 
 And  I  would  urge  the  radio  stations  and  the  TV  12 
 stations  in  our  market  to  talk  to  Mr.  Keelor  and  get  some  of  13 
 his  ideas  on  this.  Thank  you.  14 
 MR.  SMITH:  Mr.  Chairman,  I'm  here  on  behalf  of  15 
 two  fantastic  radio  stations  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  16 
 My  name  is  William  E.  Smith.  I  am  the  executive  director  17 
 of  the  Shrine  Bowl  of  the  Carolinas.  Our  job  is  to  raise  18 
 money  for  our  Shriner's  hospitals  for  children.  19 
 These  two  gentlemen  and  these  two  radio  stations  20 
 and  their  personnel  have  been  absolutely  magnificent,  and  21 
 this  is  why  I'm  here  because  they  do  something  for  the  22 
 community.  Not  just  for  Rock  Hill  and  Fort  Mill,  South  23 
 Carolina,  but  for  the  two  Carolinas.  24 
 Through  their  efforts  they  have  worked  and  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  70 
 generated  a  radio  network  for  the  Shrine  Bowl  of  the  1 
 Carolinas  which  raises  money  for  the  burn  and  crippled  2 
 children's  hospital  to  exceed  60  stations  in  the  two  3 
 Carolinas;  four  and  a  half  hours  of  broadcast  time.  So  I  4 
 have  nothing  but  wonderful  praise  for  these  men  and  their  5 
 efforts.  Thank  you,  sir.  6 
 MR.  McCONNELL:  Good  evening.  My  name  is  David  7 
 McConnell.  I  drove  down  here  from  Asheville,  North  8 
 Carolina.  I'm  an  independent  media  developer,  but  I've  been  9 
 working  for  the  past  couple  of  years  with  the  Asheville  Area  10 
 Chamber  of  Commerce  and  regional  economic  developers  in  11 
 western  North  Carolina.  12 
 We've  been  losing  manufacturing  jobs  at  a  break  13 
 neck  speed.  We've  done  a  lot  of  research  to  determine  that  14 
 the  media  can  be  a  pretty  major  economic  driver  for  our  15 
 area.  Unfortunately  what  we've  discovered  is  that's  there's  16 
 an  extreme  lack  of  media  infrastructure.  We  don't  have  17 
 public  access  stations.  We're  finally  getting  some  low  18 
 power  FM  licenses.  19 
 We've  been  doing  lots  of  interviews  with  our  best  20 
 and  brightest  graduates  from  the  area.  They're  all  leaving  21 
 for  larger  markets.  A  lot  of  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  22 
 the  majority  of  our  stations,  both  television  and  radio,  23 
 have  been  brought  up  by  Sinclair,  by  Clear  Channel,  by  24 
 others.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  71 
 They're  becoming  increasingly  automated;  they're  1 
 doing  less  and  less  local  coverage,  and  it's  a  serious  2 
 concern  in  our  area  because  we  don't  have  a  lot  of  resources  3 
 and  we're  trying  to  find  something  to  really  help  the  4 
 region.  5 
 So,  what  do  we  do?  We've  talked  to  people  6 
 endlessly  in  lots  and  lots  of  sessions,  and  we've  come  to  a  7 
 few  conclusions,  like,  how  do  we  increase  localism?  We  have  8 
 to  increase  community  involvement  in  the  media.  We've  got  9 
 to  increase  real  community  news  coverage,  not  just  the  10 
 leading  and  bleeding  stuff.  We've  got  to  increase  resources  11 
 for  aspiring  media  developers.  We  have  to  provide  real-  12 
 world  experience  for  these  people.  13 
 How  do  we  foster  local  commercial  development,  14 
 which  I  think  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  FCC.  We  have  15 
 to  create  a  local  media  infrastructure  and  ensure  local  16 
 representation,  ensure  local  control,  and  guarantee  17 
 opportunities  for  local  ownership  for  media  entrepreneurs.  18 
 So  specifically  what  I  would  like  to  see  the  FCC  19 
 do,  there  have  been  a  few  steps  lately  that  have  been  really  20 
 good,  I  would  like  to  see  further  expansion  of  the  low-  power  21 
 FM  programs  so  that  we  could  get  more  than  just  a  hundred  22 
 watts.  We're  starting  one  up  now;  maybe  we  get  five  miles.  23 
 We're  trying  to  go  regional;  we're  in  a  small  rural  24 
 community.  25 
71
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  72 
 We  really  need  to  see  more  licenses,  we  need  to  1 
 see  more  power.  We  need  to  increase  the  number  of  LPFM  2 
 licenses.  We  need  to  increase  cable  franchise  requirements  3 
 so  that  we  can  start  to  really  implement  some  pretty  serious  4 
 community  media  infrastructures  both  on-  line  and  television  5 
 who  need  to  reinforce  localism.  And  we  need  to  not  weaken  6 
 the  current  ownership  rules.  Thanks.  7 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  8 
 MS.  COLE:  Good  evening.  My  name  is  Marja  Cole.  9 
 I'm  the  executive  director  of  the  American  Red  Cross  in  10 
 North  and  South  Carolina.  In  Winston-  Salem,  the  coverage  we  11 
 get  from  our  local  broadcasting  stations  is,  as  my  daughter  12 
 would  say,  awesome.  13 
 We  have  two  TV  stations,  we  have  WTV,  WTWV-  20  and  14 
 WXII,  Channel  12.  We  have  six  radio  stations  that  we  work  15 
 with,  WSJS,  Kiss-  94,  WBFJ,  Joy-  FM,  the  Light,  1340,  and  16 
 WTQR.  All  these  radio  and  TV  stations  represent  all  17 
 different  audiences,  all  kinds  of  music,  all  kinds  of  18 
 formats  and  so  forth;  they  all  help  us  do  so  many  amazing  19 
 things  in  our  community.  20 
 They  respond  to  eleven  special  event  blood  drives  21 
 and  one  CPR  day  that  we  do  every  year  that  enables  people  to  22 
 come  and  learn  CPR  and  first  aid  at  no  cost.  They  also,  of  23 
 course,  provide  coverage  for  all  the  disasters,  both  24 
 nationally  and  locally  that  we  cover.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  73 
 And  soon  WXII  is  going  to  sponsor  a  telethon  for  1 
 us  to  help  us  raise  money  for  nine  chapters  in  the  State  of  2 
 North  Carolina,  not  just  ours.  And  during  Hurricane  Floyd  3 
 Channel  12,  WXII,  helped  us  raise  almost  two  million  dollars  4 
 for  relief  for  this  effort.  5 
 They  also  sponsor  our  Twelve  Days  of  Christmas  6 
 program  and  many  others  drives.  Together  these  broadcasters  7 
 have  collected  last  year  alone  2,079  units  of  blood  which  8 
 ended  up  helping  more  than  6200  people  in  our  community.  9 
 We've  had  a  partnership  with  our  broadcasting  10 
 group  in  Winston-  Salem  for  more  than  thirty  years.  Without  11 
 them  we  could  not  do  our  business.  I  feel  like  I'm  12 
 representing  all  the  other  organizations  in  Winston-  Salem  13 
 because  they  do  this  for  everybody,  and  across  the  state  all  14 
 the  broadcasters  help  the  Red  Crosses  do  their  work.  15 
 Without  them  there  would  not  be  the  work  that  we  do,  and  I  16 
 thank  them  all.  17 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Yes,  sir.  18 
 MR.  BROWN:  I'm  Sam  Brown  from  Charlotte.  I  19 
 represent  the  Common  Cause  of  North  Carolina.  We've  got  20 
 about  2500  members  living  in  North  Carolina.  21 
 Common  Cause  believes  that  the  dissemination  of  22 
 information,  free  and  fair,  is  a  necessity  for  democracy  to  23 
 work.  So  owning  media  is  not  just  a  business,  it's  a  public  24 
 responsibility,  indeed  it  is  a  trust.  Profit  must  not  be  25 
73
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  74 
 the  dictating  force  for  policy  in  the  media.  1 
 One  of  the  serious  mistakes  the  Federal  Government  2 
 made  was  during  the  last  couple  years  giving  away  TV  3 
 frequencies  that  were  done  under  the  radar  because  the  media  4 
 did  not  inform  the  public  the  way  it  should  have.  That's  an  5 
 example  of  what  the  media  can  do  against  the  public  good.  6 
 Just  as  strict  government  control  turns  out  7 
 propaganda  and  silences  dissenting  voices,  monopoly  8 
 ownership  would  have  its  ill  effects  in  the  media.  9 
 The  increased  size  that  was  recently  granted  by  10 
 the  FCC  moves  the  media  toward  monopolistic  ownership  and  11 
 fewer  and  fewer  CEOs  making  decisions  about  who  gets  heard  12 
 on  local  stations  and  who  gets  silenced,  and  what  issues  are  13 
 ignored  or  covered.  14 
 Common  Cause  is  in  favor  of  democracy.  We're  in  15 
 favor  of  things  being  done  that  promote  the  people's  16 
 interest,  and  with  regard  to  the  FCC  as  an  agency  of  the  17 
 people,  not  a  manager  for  big  business  to  take  over  greater  18 
 and  greater  segments  of  the  media  market.  We  just  wanted  to  19 
 express  that  concern.  20 
 Incidentally,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  this  has  21 
 the  appearance  of  a  PR  effort  to  recover  self-  respect  for  22 
 the  FCC  after  having  ignored  the  public  outcry  against  the  23 
 increasing  percentage  of  the  media  market  that  can  be  owned  24 
 by  fewer  and  fewer  owners.  Thank  you  very  much.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  75 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I'll  only  say  we'll  work  to  1 
 prove  you  otherwise.  2 
 MS.  WALKER:  Good  evening.  I'm  Kathy  Walker  and  I  3 
 have  an  advertising  agency  in  Greensboro,  North  Carolina.  4 
 And  I  have  a  great  pleasure  to  say  that  a  lot  of  my  issues  5 
 have  already  been  covered,  but  I  want  to  get  really  get  out  6 
 there  and  say  maybe  we  should  consider  a  ban  on  paid  7 
 political  advertising  and  talk  about  free,  but  limited  and  8 
 equal  airtime  for  political  candidates  and  their  campaigns.  9 
 (Applause.)  10 
 That  is  desperately  needed  to  serve  the  American  11 
 people's  interest,  and  I'd  like  to  quote  Walter  Cronkite  12 
 while  I'm  here.  13 
 There  is  no  more  important  challenge  facing  our  14 
 democracy  than  to  free  our  political  system  from  the  choke  15 
 hold  of  money  and  special  interest.  Candidates  should  not  16 
 have  to  put  themselves  on  the  auction  block  to  raise  the  17 
 resources  needed  to  communicate  in  the  modern  era.  Our  18 
 politics  should  be  driven  by  ideas,  and  not  money.  19 
 Broadcasters  have  become  the  leading  cause  of  the  20 
 high  cost  of  modern  politics.  Broadcasters  have  been  given  21 
 billions  of  dollars  worth  of  exclusive  licenses,  free  of  22 
 charge,  to  use  our  scarce  public  airwaves,  but  only  on  the  23 
 condition  that  they  serve  the  public  interest.  The  best  way  24 
 for  this  great  medium  to  discharge  its  responsibility  under  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  76 
 the  law  is  by  providing  free  airtime  before  elections  so  1 
 that  without  having  to  raise  money  with  special  interests  2 
 candidates  can  deliver  and  citizens  receive  the  information  3 
 needed  for  our  democracy  to  flourish.  4 
 I've  worked  with  the  media  for  thirty  years  and  5 
 have  owned  my  own  business  for  twenty  of  those,  and  I  think  6 
 today  we're  at  a  critical  point  to  stop  the  progression  of  7 
 media  monopoly.  A  few  years  ago  the  rules  were  relaxed  and  8 
 I've  seen  many  negative  changes  as  a  result.  9 
 We  must  recognize  the  power  of  the  media  and  take  10 
 a  stand  to  ensure  that  the  news,  information  and  11 
 entertainment  that  we  receive  isn't  controlled  by  a  select  12 
 few.  That's  it.  13 
 MS.  DEAN:  My  name  is  Blanche  Dean  and  I'm  from  14 
 Durham,  North  Carolina.  I'm  here  representing  my  fifty-  plus  15 
 cycling  and  volunteer  team  and  many  other  cyclists  16 
 participating  in  charity  rides  throughout  North  Carolina  and  17 
 the  Triangle  area.  The  community  of  cyclists,  and  not  just  18 
 the  ones  I'm  representing  here  tonight  and  their  supporters,  19 
 object  to  Clear  Channel's  continued  ploy  on  inciting  the  20 
 public  to  violence  against  cyclists.  21 
 The  media  mogul,  Clear  Channel,  has  run  similar  22 
 campaigns  in  Cleveland  and  Houston.  Their  recent  broadcast  23 
 on  WDCG,  also  known  as  G-  105  in  the  Raleigh  area,  was  not  24 
 the  first  time,  but  we're  hoping  it  will  be  their  last.  25 
76
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  77 
 As  you  heard,  on  the  mornings  of  September  22nd  1 
 and  23rd,  Clear  Channel's  employees,  Bob  and  Madison,  were  2 
 using  the  airwaves  to  instruct  the  motoring  public  to  commit  3 
 a  Class  E  felony  by  violating  North  Carolina  General  Statute  4 
 14-  32,  assault  with  a  deadly  weapon  inflicting  serious  5 
 injury.  6 
 They  were  encouraging  intentional  assaults  and  7 
 harm  to  cyclists  saying  cyclists  had  no  right  to  be  on  the  8 
 road,  they  should  be  run  off  the  road,  and  even  have  things  9 
 thrown  at  them.  One  personality  indicated  that  he  carries  10 
 empty  Yoo-  hoo  bottles  in  his  own  car  for  just  that  purpose.  11 
 While  I  believe  that  these  actions  should  not  be  12 
 protected  under  free  speech  because  they  meet  two  criteria;  13 
 first,  inciting  the  public  to  violence,  and  second,  the  14 
 likelihood  of  success,  which  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  15 
 increased  aggression  for  cyclists  since  these  abhorrent  16 
 broadcasts.  17 
 I'm  sure  Clear  Channel's  personalities  have  been  18 
 strictly  coached  on  which  words  not  to  use  that  make  them  19 
 fall  outside  the  realm  of  protection.  My  own  husband  and  a  20 
 teammate  were  forced  off  the  road  by  a  motorist  who  screamed  21 
 at  them  to  get  on  the  sidewalk  where  they  belong.  22 
 Clear  Channel  is  guilty  of  reprehensible  corporate  23 
 conduct  at  its  very  best.  The  actions  of  Clear  Channel  and  24 
 their  on-  air  personalities  should  not  be  tolerated  or  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  78 
 permitted.  Clear  Channel  needs  to  be  reprimanded  and  made  1 
 to  cease  this  type  of  broadcast  or  else  have  their  license  2 
 lifted.  3 
 Broadcast  radio  stations  are  charged  with  4 
 operating  for  the  public  good  and  as  a  public  service.  Many  5 
 cyclists  perform  a  public  service  by  riding  in  charity  rides  6 
 and  raising  funds  for  research  to  find  cures  for  things  like  7 
 Multiple  Sclerosis,  diabetes  and  AIDS.  8 
 Recently  900  cyclists  participated  in  the  MS-  150  9 
 bike  tour  in  New  Bern,  North  Carolina  and  raised  more  than  10 
 $640,000;  another  900  for  the  M.  S.  Tour  to  Tanglewood,  and  11 
 raised  more  than  half  a  million.  12 
 These  are  the  people  that  are  being  targeted  by  13 
 Clear  Channel's  personalities  and  employees.  This  is  a  14 
 definite  public  disservice.  Shame  on  them.  They  should  not  15 
 be  allowed  to  continue.  If  the  FCC  can't  control  this  type  16 
 of  activity,  perhaps  the  community  must  band  together  and  17 
 solicit  the  aid  of  local  law  enforcement  officials  like  our  18 
 Attorney  General's  Office.  19 
 AUDIENCE  PARTICIPANT:  Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  20 
 the  Commission,  thank  you  for  coming  here  and  thank  you  for  21 
 allowing  us  to  speak.  I've  heard  the  stories  and  I  know  I'm  22 
 not  going  to  listen  to  Clear  Channel  entertainment  anymore,  23 
 but  I  want  to  talk  about  a  different  kind  of  story,  and  it  24 
 comes  from  a  chain  of  network  radio  stations.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  79 
 In  my  opinion  a  licensee  shouldn't  just  perform  1 
 the  minimal  public  service  due  under  the  license.  Any  2 
 licensee  should  be  a  public  asset  and  should  be  easily  3 
 recognizable  by  the  public  as  an  asset.  This  network  that  4 
 I'm  speaking  of,  Our  Three  Sons  Broadcasting  in  Rock  Hill,  5 
 is  just  that.  6 
 It's  locally  owned  by  people  who  have  lived  in  7 
 that  community  for  twenty  years,  they  have  chaired  8 
 charities,  they  have  --  they're  the  lay  people  in  the  9 
 church,  they  have  been  the  heads  of  associations.  10 
 As  a  former  elected  official,  I  can  guarantee  you  11 
 it  was  as  accessible  or  more  accessible  than  any  other  kind  12 
 of  medium  there  regardless  of  who  the  candidate  was  and  13 
 regardless  of  the  cause  or  what  the  cause  was.  And  being  on  14 
 the  board  of  some  nonprofits,  I  can  speak  to  the  fact  that  15 
 there's  no  greater  ally  in  getting  your  word  out  than  what  16 
 this  network  is.  17 
 Rather  than  chase  ratings  and  rather  than  do  the  18 
 bare  minimum  you  have  to  do,  what  a  licensee  should  do  is  19 
 they  ought  to  pursue  the  excellence  of  their  community,  they  20 
 ought  to  care  about  whether  that  community  is  a  better  place  21 
 to  live,  and  mainly  because  it's  the  place  where  they  live  22 
 and  where  they  raise  their  children.  23 
 Again,  I  commend  them  for  the  job  they  do  and  24 
 thank  you  for  coming.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  80 
 MR.  PRICE:  My  name  is  Bill  Price.  I'm  with  1 
 Country  Cable  out  of  Grand,  North  Carolina,  and  I'm  a  2 
 satellite  TV  retailer.  I  sell  Direct  TV  and  Dish  network  3 
 satellite  TV  systems.  4 
 And  in  our  market  out  of  Greensboro  there's  a  lot  5 
 of  customers  in  the  fringe  areas  that  do  not  receive  a  clear  6 
 signal  off  of  a  local  antenna.  Therefore  they  get  their  7 
 signals  from  the  satellite  providers.  8 
 And  that  license  is  coming  up  for  renewal  in  2004,  9 
 and  we'd  like  to  recommend  that  you  ask  Congress  to  extend  10 
 that  and  keep  it  on  permanently  so  that  our  customers  won't  11 
 lose  their  distant  network  programming,  their  regular  12 
 network  programming.  Thank  you.  13 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  14 
 MR.  ECHOLS:  Mr.  Chairman,  I'm  Doug  Echols,  the  15 
 Mayor  of  Rock  Hill,  South  Carolina.  I  want  to  thank  you  for  16 
 this  opportunity  to  participate  in  this  hearing  tonight.  17 
 Life  in  America  is  really  found  on  our  main  18 
 streets,  and  where  all  citizens  are  engaged  in  learning  and  19 
 living,  where  various  entities  interface  to  make  communities  20 
 better;  it  is  a  process  to  be  enhanced.  21 
 I'm  speaking  tonight  in  support  of  South  Carolina  22 
 broadcasters,  and  most  particularly  in  our  --  for  our  two  23 
 local  radio  stations,  WRHI-  AM  and  WRHM-  FM  in  Rock  Hill.  24 
 It's  been  previously  mentioned,  the  principles  in  these  two  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  81 
 stations  live  in  our  community  and  are  very  much  an  integral  1 
 part  of  our  community  and  have  used  their  talents  to  support  2 
 a  lot  of  community  activities.  3 
 Over  the  past  twenty  years  the  station  has  offered  4 
 a  thirty-  minute  public  affairs  show  called  Straight  Talk  5 
 from  a  local  restaurant  which  showcases  issues  of  importance  6 
 to  our  city,  our  county  and  our  community.  I've  personally  7 
 appeared  on  that  show  and  appreciate  the  forum  it  has  given  8 
 me  to  discuss  community  issues  that  are  important  to  all  of  9 
 our  citizens.  10 
 In  addition  they  cover  city  council,  county  11 
 council,  delegation  meetings  and  so  forth,  and  many  other  12 
 political  events.  13 
 Rock  Hill  and  York  County  have  numerous  community  14 
 events,  festivals,  the  Jubilee  Harvest  of  the  Arts,  15 
 Summerfest  and  so  on,  as  many  communities  do.  These  radio  16 
 stations  have  always  been  involved  in  the  promotion  and  17 
 development  of  live  broadcast  from  these  events.  18 
 Also  at  emergency  times  these  stations  step  up  to  19 
 provide  dependable  information  as  an  asset  to  the  community  20 
 so  that  our  citizens  are  better  informed.  21 
 The  City  of  Rock  Hill,  York  County  and  the  22 
 surrounding  area  is  a  better  place  for  having  these  two  23 
 stations  at  work  on  behalf  of  our  citizens  and  our  24 
 community.  And  I  submit  to  you  that  that  is  the  case  25 
81
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  82 
 throughout  North  and  South  Carolina.  1 
 I  encourage  the  FCC  through  all  its  regulations  to  2 
 facilitate  a  system  of  diverse  media  options  which  help  to  3 
 make  people  better  informed  and  Main  Street  a  stronger  4 
 place.  Thank  you.  5 
 MR.  JONES:  Hello;  my  name  is  Russ  Jones.  I'm  the  6 
 general  manager  of  Carolina  Metro  Radio  Corporation  out  of  7 
 Blacksburg,  Virginia  owned  by  the  Baker  family,  actually  who  8 
 has  a  number  of  stations,  but  the  ones  I'm  responsible  for  9 
 are  regionally  here  in  North  and  South  Carolina.  10 
 And  actually  the  question  I  am  posing  is  on  behalf  11 
 of  the  Hispanic  community.  We've  got  a  strong  outreach  to  12 
 the  Hispanic  community.  Since  1997  we've  been  developing  13 
 the  stations  throughout  the  Carolinas.  Presently  I've  got  14 
 five  full-  time  Spanish  stations  and  we're  very  local.  We're  15 
 all  done  on  a  local  level.  16 
 I'm  sure  that  everybody  in  Charlotte  will  be  17 
 familiar  not  with  myself,  but  with  Armory  Pulsai  (phonetic)  18 
 who  is  here.  She's  in  contact  with  all  the  local  government  19 
 officials  all  the  time  reaching  out  to  the  community.  20 
 But  the  question  that  we're  constantly  asked  and  21 
 she's  constantly  asked  and  I'm  constantly  asked  is  why  are  22 
 these  stations  an  FCC  concern,  but  why  do  stations  go  off  23 
 the  air?  I  know  that's  the  way  they're  licensed  as  daytime  24 
 stations  or  low  power  at  night,  but  it's  very  hard  to  reach  25 
82
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  83 
 the  community.  1 
 For  example,  we're  the  only  station  in  Charlotte  2 
 and  we've  got  10,000  watts  of  power.  Especially  when  3 
 there's  an  emergency  situation,  severe  weather  and  other  4 
 national  or  local  news  stories  that  pertain  to  the  Spanish  5 
 community.  At  5:  15  on  November  1st  our  station  will  be  off  6 
 the  air  and  our  Spanish  audience  will  all  of  a  sudden  hear  a  7 
 news  talk  station  out  of  Boston,  which  does  nothing  to  reach  8 
 the  Hispanic  community  at  all.  9 
 And  on  a  local  level  I  think  you  find  a  lot  of  10 
 your  --  especially  the  minority  format  stations  are  going  to  11 
 be  not  the  big  100,  000  watt  FM  stations  that  run  24  hours  a  12 
 day,  but  more  of  the  smaller  stations  either  at  low  wattage  13 
 or  licensed  sunrise,  sunset.  14 
 So  just  the  question  that  I  see  you  need  to  15 
 consider  is  a  way  to  reach  the  minorities  with  those  16 
 changes.  Thank  you.  17 
 REVEREND  KING:  Chairman  Powell,  we  want  to  18 
 welcome  you  from  the  city  of  Rock  Hill  and  the  County  of  19 
 York  and  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  On  your  next  time  20 
 around  I  want  you  to  know  you  can  come  to  Rock  Hill.  We  are  21 
 the  All  American  city  inclusive.  And  by  the  way,  if  you  22 
 don't  mind,  I'll  tell  you  that  I'm  praying  for  you.  23 
 To  you,  the  Commissioners,  and  to  the  panelists,  24 
 as  well  as  those  who  are  here  now,  my  name  is  Reverend  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  84 
 Ronald  A.  King.  I  am  the  founder  and  director  of  the  Feed  1 
 the  Hungry  Program  for  North  and  South  Carolina.  2 
 I  represent  Christians  To  Feed  the  Hungry;  this  is  3 
 a  grassroots,  self-  help  organization.  Our  responsibility  is  4 
 basic;  we  serve  our  community  and  we  see  no  problem  in  that.  5 
 There  is  a  fine  line  between  North  and  South  Carolina  and  6 
 it  doesn't  stop  at  the  90  mile  marker.  The  problems  are  on  7 
 both  sides  of  the  line  and  we  tend  to  cooperate.  We  tend  to  8 
 be  inclusive  and  not  exclusive.  9 
 What  I'm  saying  to  you  now  is  that  WRHI-  AM,  WRHM-  10 
 FM  stations  have  provided  a  special  service  to  its  11 
 communities.  It  has  given  opportunities  to  people  such  as  I  12 
 and  others  who  are  in  the  same  position  to  serve  our  13 
 communities  unrestricted.  That  is  inclusive  to  the  14 
 Oriental,  Hispanic,  Islam,  Jewish  communities,  as  well  as  15 
 the  Afro-  American  community.  16 
 I  have  been  at  this  since  November  the  12th,  1976.  17 
 We  are  well  known  in  what  we  do.  We  started  WRHI-  AM  and  18 
 WRHM-  FM  stations  and  from  that  we've  grown  to  the  Charlotte  19 
 market,  Power  98,  the  PEGs,  believe  it  or  not,  to  President  20 
 Jimmy  Carter.  We've  been  acknowledged  by  President  Bill  21 
 Clinton  and  also  President  George  Bush.  22 
 Our  efforts  are  complete.  All  we're  trying  to  say  23 
 is  that  more  stations  like  WRHI  should  be  allowed  to  24 
 continue  in  their  endeavor.  They  need  to  do  the  job  that  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  85 
 they  do.  1 
 And  one  other  thing  is  that  we  rely  on  our  station  2 
 for  our  local  city  council  information  and  delegation  and  3 
 our  up-  to-  date  information.  Our  local  radio  stations  are  4 
 well  known  and  we  want  to  say  that  we  thank  you  for  coming.  5 
 We  want  you  to  continue  to  come  and  to  examine  these  issues  6 
 because  there  are  many.  7 
 And  these  people  who  are  here  now  have  a  complete  8 
 effort.  Those  from  the  bicycles  to  special  interest  groups,  9 
 even  to  those  who  own  these  stations,  let  them  know  that  we  10 
 who  are  on  the  bottom  rung  of  the  ladder  need  that  11 
 opportunity  to  get  to  you.  We  thank  you.  12 
 AUDIENCE  PARTICIPANT:  Good  evening,  Commissioners  13 
 and  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  address  the  panel  14 
 tonight.  I'm  here  to  talk  about  radio.  I  think  the  radio  15 
 serves  American's  communities  best  when  it  was  part  of  the  16 
 community.  The  keys  were  local  talent,  local  programming,  17 
 interactivity  with  listeners.  18 
 When  DJs  and  the  program  directors  programmed  19 
 stations,  local  bands  would  get  air  play,  listeners  would  20 
 respond  strongly,  the  buzz  would  spread,  and  a  hit  would  be  21 
 made;  songs  were  competing  based  on  popularity  and  quality.  22 
 Contrast  that  to  the  current  system.  We're  in  a  23 
 play/  listener  program  nationally,  spots  in  a  play/  listener  24 
 program  are  auctioned  off  to  the  highest  bidder.  25 
85
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  86 
 And,  Commissioner  Adelstein,  I  could  E-  mail  you  1 
 tons  of  newspaper  reports  describing  the  system  of  2 
 independent  promotion.  We've  moved  from  a  diversity  of  3 
 music  to  a  monotony  of  music  spanned  across  multiple  markets  4 
 in  tune  to  the  lowest  common  denominator.  5 
 Whether  a  song  stays  in  rotation  in  my  market  6 
 depends  on  how  it  tests  out  on  a  fifteen-  second  sound  byte  7 
 on  a  phone  poll  in  New  York  or  Los  Angeles.  We  have  a  local  8 
 audience  listening  to  the  radio,  but  radio  stopped  listening  9 
 to  its  local  audiences  long  ago.  10 
 We  must  also  mourn  the  tremendous  loss  of  talent  11 
 in  the  industry  the  last  few  years.  Very  quietly  and  very  12 
 quickly,  most  local  DJs  in  smaller  markets  are  fired.  DJ's  13 
 in  larger  markets  were  then  paid  a  nominal  fee  to  voice  14 
 track  shows  for  the  empty  studios.  They  have  marginalized  15 
 pretty  much  the  whole  industry.  16 
 Tens  of  thousands  of  DJs  have  lost  their  job  17 
 practically  within  a  six  month  to  a  year  period  across  the  18 
 country.  It  didn't  end  there.  Record  station  managers,  19 
 news  staff,  promotion  staff  have  all  been  laid  off.  At  the  20 
 end  of  the  day,  the  remaining  staff  puts  the  station  on  auto  21 
 pilot  and  turns  off  the  lights  and  the  signal  is  cut  by  22 
 fifty  percent.  Even  the  signal's  a  casualty.  The  computer  23 
 system  running  the  station  is  called  profit.  24 
 All  of  this  was  made  not  possible  by  deregulation,  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  87 
 but  made  inevitable  by  deregulation.  I  urge  you  to  return  1 
 radio  back  to  the  people.  Thank  you.  2 
 MS.  SCIENSKI:  Good  evening.  My  name  is  Gloria  3 
 Scienski  and  I'm  the  executive  director  of  the  Make  A  Wish  4 
 Foundation  of  central  and  western  North  Carolina.  We  5 
 basically  cover  half  the  state,  and  I'm  here  for  two  reasons  6 
 tonight.  7 
 First  I'd  like  to  thank  Magic  96.1,  WWMG  and  Clear  8 
 Channel  for  all  they  do  for  our  community,  both  for  adults  9 
 and  children,  but  especially  for  sick  kids  in  our  community.  10 
 Second  I'm  here  to  tell  you  that  from  a  local  11 
 perspective,  broadcasting  and  localism  is  alive  and  well  12 
 thanks  to  Magic  and  Clear  Channel.  Our  organization  has  a  13 
 great  working  relationship  with  our  local  radio  station,  14 
 Magic  96.  1.  15 
 We  would  like  to  thank  WWMG,  Magic  96.1  for  16 
 helping  us  to  accomplish  our  mission.  They  sponsor  the  Make  17 
 A  Wish  Wednesdays  for  four  consecutive  weeks  during  November  18 
 for  two  consecutive  years,  and  have  raised  over  $300,000  to  19 
 help  local  sick  children.  This  money  paid  for  more  than  20 
 sixty  wishes  for  children  right  here  in  our  own  community.  21 
 Additionally  I'd  like  to  thank  them  for  opening  up  22 
 their  studio  and  sharing  in  the  power  of  the  Wish.  23 
 Children,  their  families,  health  care  providers,  volunteers  24 
 and  donors,  joined  the  radio  talent  to  tell  Wish  stories  and  25 
87
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  88 
 raise  money  to  fund  additional  missions.  1 
 Each  member  of  the  Magic  Clear  Channel  team  2 
 extended  their  efforts  far  beyond  anything  we  at  Make  A  Wish  3 
 imagined.  Magic  and  Clear  Channel  is  definitely  committed  4 
 to  the  children  in  our  community  and  to  our  community.  Not  5 
 to  sound  too  hokey,  but  Magic  makes  magic  for  our  kids.  6 
 Thank  you.  7 
 MS.  PERFEDA:  I'm  Karen  Perfeda  (phonetic),  vice  8 
 president  of  radiothon  for  Children's  Miracle  Network.  Our  9 
 organization  was  founded  in  1983  in  hopes  to  raise  funds  and  10 
 awareness  for  170  of  the  premiere  hospitals  treating  11 
 children  in  the  U.  S.  and  Canada.  12 
 While  our  organization  is  not  political,  we'd  be  13 
 remiss  if  we  did  not  share  the  story  of  radio's  local  14 
 efforts  on  behalf  of  our  hospitals.  15 
 Six  years  ago  we  began  our  radiothon  efforts  under  16 
 the  leadership  of  Bob  Lynn,  a  former  executive  with  Capitol  17 
 Broadcasting.  As  we  began  to  call  on  stations  across  the  18 
 country,  one  of  the  top  factors  in  getting  a  station's  19 
 agreement  to  host  a  three  to  four-  day  event  was  that  all  20 
 money  raised  would  stay  in  their  local  markets.  21 
 Thanks  to  underwriting  at  Forresters,  an  22 
 international  financial  organization,  we  were  able  to  offer  23 
 national  support  to  this  program  which  benefits  the  24 
 stations,  local  hospitals  and  the  children  they  treat.  25 
88
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  89 
 In  just  six  years  200  stations  have  joined  our  1 
 efforts  and  this  year  we'll  raise  $30  million  for  their  2 
 hospitals.  Our  stations  represent  every  major  ownership  3 
 group  as  well  as  many  smaller  companies,  and  not  one  of  4 
 these  stations  charges  for  their  time.  5 
 Mr.  Goodmon  of  Capitol  Broadcasting  has  WRAL  which  6 
 just  did  their  tenth  event  for  us  and  in  four  days  raised  7 
 $900,000  for  Duke  Children's  Hospital.  Last  year  60  Clear  8 
 Channel  stations  participated  giving  more  than  3,  000  hours  9 
 of  time  and  raising  $6.6  million.  10 
 We  found  stations  eager  to  be  an  active  part  of  11 
 their  community,  taking  their  commitment  beyond  the  airwaves  12 
 to  include  a  variety  of  fundraising  events  and  activities  13 
 within  the  local  Children's  Miracle  Network  hospitals.  14 
 Thank  you  for  giving  us  this  opportunity  to  tell  15 
 our  story  and  also  to  thank  our  stations  for  helping  better  16 
 the  lives  of  children.  17 
 MR.  WALKER:  Mr.  Chairman,  Committee  members,  18 
 thank  you  for  holding  this  forum  and  welcome  to  Charlotte.  19 
 My  name  is  Bucky  Walker.  I  am  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  20 
 governors  for  the  Shrine  Bowl  of  the  Carolinas.  We're  an  21 
 organization  representing  22,  000  Shriners  of  the  two  22 
 Carolinas.  Our  philanthropy  raises  money  to  support  22  23 
 hospitals  throughout  the  U.  S.,  Canada  and  Mexico.  Last  year  24 
 on  active  role  we  had  188,  000  little  heros  that  we  treated.  25 
89
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  90 
 I  must  quickly  elaborate  a  little  bit  on  who  I  am  1 
 and  what  I  represent  to  give  you  a  backdrop  as  to  why  WRHI  2 
 is  so  very  important  and  critical  to  us.  3 
 For  the  operating  year  '03  we  have  a  $605  million  4 
 operating  budget.  Extract  25  million  for  research  and  5 
 development,  the  balance  --  I'm  sorry.  92  percent  of  that  6 
 balance  goes  to  the  daily  operation  of  the  hospitals.  We  7 
 only  have  eight  percent  that  goes  into  administrative  ends.  8 
 We  accept  no  third-  party  monies,  no  government,  no  9 
 insurance,  and  certainly  no  family  pays.  Well,  then,  how  do  10 
 we  get  all  this  money?  We're  talking  about  $1,600,  000  a  11 
 day.  Well,  we  get  it  from  people  like  Alan  Elliott  and  12 
 Manny  Kimbell.  13 
 Let  me  give  you  an  example.  We've  been  down  there  14 
 in  Rock  Hill  now  for  three  years,  and  quickly  they  have  15 
 probably  raised  for  us  in  excess  of  $60,000.  They've  given  16 
 freely  of  their  time.  We  must  spend  at  least  from  July  17 
 through  December  roughly  twenty  hours  on  the  air,  and  to  18 
 boot  that,  they  --  let  me  quickly  summarize  and  say  that  19 
 sometimes  I  think  they're  just  like  the  Shriner  20 
 organization.  They  give  so  much  I  believe  they're  a  21 
 nonprofit  organization,  not  solely  focused  on  the  money  that  22 
 I've  heard  so  much  here  tonight.  23 
 If  you  want  your  records  on  the  air,  call  these  24 
 men  over  here.  They'll  get  it.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  91 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I'll  do  it.  1 
 MR.  WALKER:  Thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman.  2 
 AUDIENCE  PARTICIPANT:  Good  evening,  Mr.  Chairman  3 
 and  Commissioners  and  panelists.  I'm  Paige  Throop  4 
 (phonetic),  and  I'm  the  director  for  the  Children's  Miracle  5 
 Network  locally  here  at  Children's  Hospital  at  Carolina's  6 
 Medical  Center.  And  I  want  to  talk  about  one  issue  that's  7 
 been  brought  out,  Chairman  Powell,  in  your  opening  remarks  8 
 were  we  want  to  find  out  how  these  stations  and  broadcasters  9 
 are  responsive  to  the  needs  of  the  community.  10 
 And  I  just  want  to  say  it  goes  beyond  the  legal  11 
 obligation,  I  want  to  share  with  you  some  examples  that  it's  12 
 truly  a  personal  commitment  to  our  community.  13 
 Lite  102.  9  is  a  Clear  Channel  station  here  in  14 
 Charlotte,  and  for  the  past  three  years  they  have  broken  15 
 their  format  and  given  us  four  days  of  airtime  to  tell  our  16 
 story  and  the  story  of  tens  of  thousands  of  children  served  17 
 in  our  community  at  the  Children's  Hospital  at  Carolina's  18 
 Medical  Center.  19 
 And  we're  so  proud  to  say  a  hundred  percent  of  20 
 that  money  stays  right  here,  and  also  to  let  you  all  know,  21 
 they  have  raised  $900,000  in  the  last  three  years  and  are  22 
 looking  forward  to  a  great  fourth  year  in  December.  23 
 But  these  efforts  are  just  not  for  those  four  24 
 days.  The  entire  station  is  behind  the  children  of  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  92 
 Charlotte  and  our  area,  and  we  truly  serve  children  from  1 
 across  the  region.  We  serve  children  --  we  had  6700  2 
 children  served  at  our  hospital  on  an  in-  patient  basis  last  3 
 year,  about  100,  000  on  an  out-  patient  basis,  and  74  out  of  4 
 100  North  Carolina  counties  children  were  served,  and  33  out  5 
 of  40  South  Carolina  stations.  6 
 And  truly  the  station  really  embraces  this  effort  7 
 to  help  children  that  are  babies  who  weigh  less  than  a  pound  8 
 to  children  up  to  18  years  old.  9 
 Also  I  just  want  to  say  that  the  hosts,  Tony  and  10 
 Jen,  they  have  shared  throughout  the  year  the  stories  of  11 
 these  children  and  really  it's  a  personal  commitment.  And  12 
 our  localism  is  not  just  on  the  radio,  but  we  have  great  13 
 partners  with  WCMC,  which  is  NBC-  6  and  a  few  other  stations  14 
 here  in  Charlotte.  15 
 They've  been  our  wonderful  partner  for  the  last  16 
 six  years,  and  their  commitment  is  just  not  for  that  one  day  17 
 for  our  celebration  broadcast.  They  support  us  with  PSAs,  18 
 covering  grassroots  efforts  events  throughout  the  year.  19 
 So  our  $2.  2  million  we  raise,  we  raise  one  dollar  20 
 at  a  time.  We  couldn't  do  it  without  the  great  work  of  21 
 those  two  people  that  I  mentioned,  and  when  I  look  around  22 
 this  room  I  see  great  people  at  WSOC-  FM  and  many  other  radio  23 
 stations  that  have  helped  us  with  PSAs  and  community  service  24 
 efforts  throughout  the  year  and  we  hope  it  will  continue.  25 
92
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  93 
 Thank  you  so  much.  1 
 MR.  BELL:  I'm  Frank  Bell;  I'm  the  director  of  the  2 
 YMCA  in  Rock  Hill,  South  Carolina.  And  I'd  like  for  you  to  3 
 know  that  I  consider  local  ownership  of  radio  stations  4 
 crucial,  and  in  Rock  Hill,  South  Carolina  we  have  that.  5 
 We  have  two  wonderful  owners  that  care  about  the  6 
 community,  Alan  Miller,  one  of  the  owners.  I  go  to  church  7 
 with  Alan.  We've  been  on  several  committees  together  in  the  8 
 community.  Our  annual  Come  See  Me  Festivals,  I  help  Alan  9 
 with  high  school  football,  and  we're  one  of  the  few  stations  10 
 around  that  still  cover  high  school  football  on  Friday  11 
 nights.  12 
 We  do  an  Easter  egg  hunt  together  each  year  with  13 
 hiding  75,  000  Easter  eggs  for  5  to  10,000  kids,  and  believe  14 
 me,  I  wouldn't  do  it  without  Alan's  encouragement.  It's  not  15 
 exactly  a  fun  day.  We  also  have  Manny  Kimbell;  Manny's  on  16 
 the  YMCA's  board  of  directors  and  he  puts  in  countless  time  17 
 at  the  Y.  He's  chaired  our  campaign,  capital  campaign,  18 
 that's  just  raised  $7  million  to  help  build  two  new  YMCA's,  19 
 and  we  consider  Manny  and  Alan  an  important  part  of  our  20 
 community.  21 
 In  addition  to  the  local  news,  and  they  do  a  great  22 
 job  with  that,  the  emergencies  have  to  be  mentioned.  They  23 
 don't  happen  often,  but  when  they  do,  the  radio,  the  local  24 
 radio  is  the  only  source  for  gathering  news.  25 
93
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  94 
 At  the  YMCA  we  have  a  child  care  program  with  more  1 
 than  400  kids  in  the  program,  and  in  the  South  when  you  have  2 
 a  snow  or  an  ice  storm  it's  often  in  the  middle  of  the  night  3 
 and  you  don't  know  if  school's  on  or  off,  whether  the  kids  4 
 should  go  to  school,  whether  the  Y  is  open.  They're  the  5 
 guys  that  I  call  and  I  could  call  them  at  home  if  I  need  to  6 
 to  make  sure  that  local  news  is  gathered  during  this  crisis  7 
 for  many  families  when  they're  trying  to  decide  what  to  do  8 
 with  their  children.  9 
 In  addition  to  that,  when  Hurricane  Hugo  came  10 
 through  a  few  years  back,  and  that  was  a  big  deal,  all  TV  11 
 stations  went  out  and  a  lot  of  radio  stations  went  out  and  12 
 they  managed  to  pull  themselves  together.  And  a  week  or  so  13 
 after  the  storm  had  hit,  when  people  were  still  needing  a  14 
 hot  shower,  the  YMCA  called  and  they  knew  because  of  the  15 
 local  radios.  And  after  a  week  or  so,  I'm  sure  that's  more  16 
 than  an  emergency.  17 
 In  addition,  I  have  to  mention,  a  lot  of  times  18 
 local  news  can  be  a  more  important  gatherer  of  national  19 
 news,  and  we  also  had  an  opportunity  to  do  that.  We  had  a  20 
 bus  stolen  that  ended  up  in  Honduras,  and  the  local  radio  21 
 station  made  sure  that  the  world  found  out  about  it.  Paul  22 
 Harvey  picked  up  on  it,  the  BBC  picked  up  on  it,  all  because  23 
 the  local  radio,  they  did  the  story.  24 
 And  yes,  we  did  get  it  back  a  year  and  two  days  25 
94
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  95 
 later  on  a  banana  boat  to  Fort  Lauderdale,  Florida  straight  1 
 from  Honduras.  2 
 MS.  COWAN:  I'm  Lois  Cowan  and  I'm  co-  owner  of  3 
 some  bicycle  stores  in  Cleveland,  Ohio  and  I'll  try  not  to  4 
 repeat  what's  been  said  already.  The  anti-  cyclist  drive  5 
 time  broadcast  started  on  June  30th  in  Cleveland  and  it  6 
 continued  for  six  days.  You've  heard  about  the  Raleigh  7 
 ones.  8 
 On  September  2nd,  KLOL  in  Houston  rebroadcast  a  9 
 program  that's  especially  disturbing  because  it  was  three  10 
 days  after  a  horrendous  accident  involving  twenty  bicycles  11 
 and  a  truck  that  left  two  Houston  riders  dead.  Houston  is  12 
 also  extremely  difficult  for  a  cyclist.  There've  been  13  13 
 people  killed  while  riding  bicycles  in  Houston  in  the  last  14 
 year.  15 
 During  the  broadcast,  Clear  Channel  employees  and  16 
 callers  encouraged  motorists  to  do  things  like  speed  past  17 
 the  bicycles  and  slam  your  brakes  on.  One  of  the  DJs  18 
 actually  said  they're  all  wearing  helmets,  so  they'll  live;  19 
 throw  things  such  as  bottles  and  cans  at  cyclists;  have  your  20 
 passenger  open  the  car  door  at  the  rider,  have  the  passenger  21 
 hit  them  with  a  whiffle  ball  bat;  shoot  at  the  tires  with  22 
 pellet  guns;  swerve  towards  the  cycles  to  scare  them  and  23 
 force  them  off  the  road;  or  bump  the  back  wheel  with  the  24 
 bumper  of  your  car.  25 
95
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  96 
 It's  my  understanding  that  the  FCC  will  deny  1 
 applications  for  license  renewal  if  the  licensee  exhibits  2 
 poor  character.  Since  approximately  45,  000  cyclists  a  year  3 
 are  involved  in  accidents  with  motor  vehicles,  encouraging,  4 
 provoking  and  inciting  motorists  to  attack  cyclists  shows  5 
 extremely  poor  character.  6 
 Clear  Channel  refuses  to  release  tapes  or  7 
 transcripts  of  the  programs.  Since  they  chose  to  pay  8 
 $10,  000  towards  cycling  advocacy  in  Cleveland,  broadcast  9 
 apologies,  and  run  hundreds  of  public  service  announcements,  10 
 a  reasonable  and  prudent  person  would  assume  that  they  feel  11 
 they  have  some  liability  or  license  exposure.  12 
 We  want  Clear  Channel  to  stop  promoting  violence  13 
 and  we  want  Clear  Channel  to  undo  the  damage  they've  done.  14 
 And  I  have  part  of  some  of  the  broadcast  where  they  are  15 
 personally  attacking  me,  and  I  was  the  person  who  asked  that  16 
 question,  and  I  just  wanted  to  hear  the  response,  and  they  17 
 also  ridicule  the  FCC,  so  you  might  want  to  listen  to  those  18 
 tapes.  19 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Let  me  make  an  announcement  and  20 
 then  make  a  proposal.  I  would  like  to  extend  the  open  mike  21 
 time  a  little  longer.  It  was  our  plan  to  try  to  go  to  about  22 
 7:  50  or  7:  50,  7:  55,  take  a  very  short  five  minute  break,  23 
 start  up  again  at  8,  and  we'll  just  shave  a  little  bit  off  24 
 on  the  card  questions  at  the  end  of  the  second  panel  if  25 
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 that's  acceptable  to  everyone.  1 
 MR.  WATERS:  Good  evening.  My  name  is  Steven  2 
 Waters  and  I've  travelled  several  hours  to  be  here  to  3 
 represent  the  League  of  American  Bicyclists  and  its  300,  000  4 
 affiliated  members  across  the  country.  5 
 As  you've  heard,  Clear  Channel  Communication's  6 
 radio  stations  in  three  cities  recently  broadcast  some  talk  7 
 shows  with  the  hosts  telling  the  listeners  encouraging  8 
 violence  against  bicyclists.  This  also  occurred  on  Clear  9 
 Channel's  station  in  San  Jose,  California  in  2001,  on  WDCG,  10 
 G-  105,  what  DG  --  what  G-  105  basically  did  was  advocate  what  11 
 amounts  to  assault  with  a  deadly  weapon  or  felony  assault  12 
 against  bicyclists.  13 
 This  reckless  promotion  of  violence  against  14 
 bicyclists  is  reprehensible  and  shows  that  Clear  Channel  15 
 stations  are  not  operating  in  the  public  interest.  16 
 Indeed,  when  one  of  the  DJs  in  Cleveland  was  asked  17 
 by  The  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer  newspaper  whether  his  show  18 
 helped  the  public,  he  said,  quite  frankly,  I'm  not  here  to  19 
 serve  the  interest  of  the  community;  I'm  serving  my  interest  20 
 by  being  here.  End  quote.  21 
 The  fact  that  Clear  Channel  has  promoted  violence  22 
 against  bicyclists  on  four  separate  radio  stations  23 
 demonstrates  a  pattern  of  behavior  that  clearly  warrants  FCC  24 
 scrutiny.  25 
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 As  the  broadcast  promoted  criminal  behavior  and  1 
 the  causing  physical  harm  to  bicyclists,  this  matter  goes  2 
 beyond  free  speech  issues  to  the  heart  of  whether  or  not  it  3 
 is  in  the  public  interest  to  allow  stations  owned  by  this  4 
 company  to  continue  broadcasting.  5 
 The  League  of  American  Bicyclists  urges  the  FCC  to  6 
 heed  its  own  mandate  and  follow  the  lead  of  Commissioner  7 
 Copps  in  ensuring  that  licenses  are  not  renewed  without  8 
 examining  how  stations  are  serving  their  local  communities.  9 
 And  thank  you  very  much  for  this  opportunity  to  speak  for  10 
 input.  11 
 MR.  HAND:  Good  evening.  I'm  David  Hand,  I  live  12 
 in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  I'd  like  to  speak  to  a  couple  13 
 of  points  about  the  WDCG  incident.  The  damage  that's  been  14 
 done  in  our  community  extends  beyond  cyclists.  15 
 What  they've  advocated  that  commuters  do  is  a  16 
 felony;  people  acting  on  their  advice  are  putting  themselves  17 
 in  jeopardy  of  being  sent  to  prison.  They  know  that  road  18 
 rage  is  a  problem  in  our  area.  They  live  in  our  area;  they  19 
 know  that  that's  a  problem  that  local  government's  trying  to  20 
 address.  21 
 Instead  of  doing  their  part  to  address  this  22 
 problem,  they're  seeking  to  profit  from  it.  It's  really  23 
 disgusting  abuse  of  the  public  trust  and  the  right  of  the  24 
 privilege  of  broadcasting  on  the  airwaves.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  99 
 Station  management  contends  that  after  several  1 
 days  of  reflection  on  this  issue,  after  we  had  spoken  with  2 
 their  advertisers  and  had  some  of  their  advertisers  pull  the  3 
 ads,  it  suddenly  occurred  to  them  that  inciting  violence  and  4 
 killing  innocent  Americans  is  not  humorous  nor  entertaining.  5 
 That  was  their  initial  response  throughout,  that  this  was  6 
 humor  and  entertainment.  7 
 I  would  like  to  ask  that  the  FCC  let  us  know  what  8 
 expectations  they  have  in  exchange  for  access  to  the  public  9 
 airwaves  beyond  evaluating  the  license  when  it  comes  up  for  10 
 renewal.  These  people  use  the  public  airwaves  every  day,  11 
 they  need  to  be  conscious  of  their  commitment  to  the  public  12 
 good  every  day  and  they  need  to  be  held  accountable  for  13 
 that.  Thank  you.  14 
 MR.  HAYES:  Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  the  15 
 Commission,  my  name  is  Wes  Hayes.  I  serve  with  the  South  16 
 Carolina  Senate  from  York  County  and  Rock  Hill  right  across  17 
 the  border.  And  seeing  the  challenges  we  face  at  the  state  18 
 level,  I'm  kind  of  enjoying  seeing  the  challenges  you  face  19 
 at  the  federal  level.  20 
 I  don't  have  a  lot  to  add  to  your  problems  21 
 tonight.  I  just  wanted  to  first  of  all  commend  you  for  22 
 being  here.  I  think  --  I  can't  think  of  anything  better  23 
 that  you  can  do  than  to  go  out  throughout  the  country  and  24 
 find  out  the  opinions  of  people  on  various  issues,  and  I  25 
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 commend  you  for  that.  1 
 I  want  to  just  say  a  word  for  two  stations  that  2 
 have  already  been  mentioned  many  times,  WRHI  and  WRHM  down  3 
 in  Rock  Hill.  They  are  truly  the  voice  of  our  community,  4 
 and  I  don't  say  that  lightly.  I've  never  seen  anything  like  5 
 the  coverage  they  give  to  the  meetings  and  local  events,  to  6 
 emergency  coverage  and  to  the  political  campaigns,  to  local  7 
 sports.  They  really  are  the  voice  and  certainly  I  think  8 
 it's  something  that  should  be  applauded.  9 
 The  only  comment  that  I  can  say  negative  about  the  10 
 station  is  when  you  get  very  far  from  Rock  Hill  you  can't  11 
 pick  them  up,  so  they  need  a  little  bit  more  power,  so  if  12 
 you  can  see  granting  that  to  them.  So  I  just  wanted  to  13 
 commend  them  and  thank  you  for  being  here.  14 
 T.  J.:  My  name  is  T.  J.  and  I'm  with  the  Ace  and  15 
 T.  J.  show  on  WNKS  here  in  Charlotte,  part  of  the  Infinity  16 
 Broadcasting  Corporation  of  Charlotte.  And  you'll  have  to  17 
 forgive  me  if  I  sound  a  little  bit  exhausted;  we  just  got  18 
 back  from  taking  our  fourth  727  load  of  children  with  19 
 terminal  illnesses  to  Disneyworld  for  an  all  expenses  paid,  20 
 once  in  a  lifetime  trip.  21 
 Over  the  five  and  a  half  years  that  my  partner  and  22 
 I  have  been  in  Charlotte  we've  raised  hundreds  of  thousands  23 
 of  dollars  for  charities  from  --  everything  from  the  Red  24 
 Cross  to  hurricane  relief,  to  prom  dresses  for  girls  who  25 
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 couldn't  afford  them  locally,  to  the  family  of  an  officer  1 
 that  was  killed  in  the  line  of  duty.  2 
 So  you  local  artists  will  have  to  forgive  me  if  we  3 
 haven't  had  the  time  to  take  on  the  responsibility  of  4 
 launching  your  music  career.  5 
 (Applause.)  6 
 Ms.  Merritt,  you  seem  to  contradict  yourself  a  7 
 little  bit  when  you  say  that  you  don't  want  the  government  8 
 to  be  involved  with  radio,  yet  you're  asking  an  ever-  9 
 growing,  ever-  expanding  federal  government  to  mandate  the  10 
 play  of  your  records  on  radio  stations.  11 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I  certainly  am  not  indicating  that.  12 
 T.  J.:  And  you  say  that  the  radio  stations  13 
 shouldn't  be  worried  about  their  bottom  line  when  you  openly  14 
 admit  that  that's  what  you're  trying  to  reach  is  your  bottom  15 
 line.  16 
 MS.  MERRITT:  I'm  not  --  if  you  want  music,  you're  17 
 going  to  have  to  find  a  way,  we're  going  to  have  to  find  a  18 
 way  to  cooperate  because  we  both  need  to  stay  in  business.  19 
 But,  you  know,  I  certainly  don't  live  by  a  pool.  I  struggle  20 
 to  make  ends  meet  and  I  have  a  lot  of  respect  for  that.  So  21 
 I'm  not  here  to  promote  my  career.  I'm  here  to  give  North  22 
 Carolina  musicians  a  voice  so  that  they  can  keep  23 
 contributing  just  as  you  have.  24 
 (Applause.)  25 
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 T.  J.:  Do  her  comments  count  in  my  two  minutes?  1 
 Let  me  say  this,  I  know  this  will  be  indecent  language  to  a  2 
 lot  of  people  in  here,  but  ours  is  a  society  built  on  3 
 capitalism.  And  in  order  to  make  a  profit,  you  have  to  4 
 abide  by  the  rules  of  capitalism.  And  we  can  service  the  5 
 community  and  still  make  a  profit  to  keep  these  radio  6 
 stations  and  TV  stations  on  the  air.  And  tomorrow  morning  7 
 your  newspaper  will  show  up  with  whatever  the  heck  the  8 
 people  want  to  put  in  it  in  there.  Thank  you  very  much.  9 
 MS.  GARNER:  Chairman  Powell,  distinguished  10 
 Commissioners,  members  of  the  panel,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  11 
 my  name  is  Elsie  Garner.  I'm  the  president  and  CEO  of  WTVI,  12 
 Charlotte's  own  public  television  station.  13 
 In  the  debate  over  localism  and  broadcasting,  I  14 
 would  request  that  the  FCC  give  consideration  to  that  last  15 
 bastion  of  locally  controlled,  free  over-  the-  air,  public  16 
 television  and  radio  stations.  17 
 The  FCC  had  the  foresight  to  reserve  channels  for  18 
 nonprofit,  educational  use  many  years  ago.  I  urge  you  today  19 
 to  continue  to  reserve  for  the  future  a  chair  at  the  table  20 
 for  public  use,  because  without  some  care,  this  local  21 
 resource  could  disappear  in  digital  transition.  22 
 I  request  you  to  establish  rules  to  guarantee  23 
 cable  and  satellite  carriage  for  the  digital  age.  24 
 Otherwise,  public  television  will  be  faced  with  operating  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  103 
 costs  for  two  stations  at  once  with  the  exposure  of  only  one  1 
 station.  And  in  the  digital  world,  satellite  television  2 
 should  not  be  exempt  from  the  kinds  of  requirements  that  3 
 apply  to  cable  when  it  comes  to  digital  signals  for  the  4 
 protection  of  local  stations  such  as  WTVI.  5 
 WTVI  is  owned  and  operated  by  a  local  broadcasting  6 
 authority.  83  percent  of  our  budget  comes  directly  from  the  7 
 community  we  serve.  That's  local  government  and  local  8 
 business,  local  foundations,  and  yes,  local  viewers  like  9 
 these  people  behind  me.  This  means  we  have  to  be  responsive  10 
 to  local  issues  and  local  preferences.  11 
 WTVI  broadcasts  approximately  twice  the  PBS  12 
 national  average  of  locally  produced  programs  such  as  the  13 
 election  debates  for  city  council  and  the  school  board,  and  14 
 our  Ready  to  Learn  Service  as  has  been  cited  twice  by  the  15 
 Department  of  Education  as  one  of  the  country's  five  best  16 
 outreach  services.  17 
 Overwhelmingly  I  hear  from  our  viewers  that  they  18 
 consider  WTVI  to  be  an  essential  community  resource  in  the  19 
 heart  of  the  Carolinas.  Thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  20 
 come  before  you  tonight  and  thank  you  for  coming  to  21 
 Charlotte.  22 
 AUDIENCE  PARTICIPANT:  Chairman  Powell,  welcome  to  23 
 Charlotte;  we  really  appreciate  you  being  here.  24 
 Commissioner  Copps  and  Adelstein  and  Mr.  Goodmon,  I'm  a  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  104 
 couch  potato,  and  I've  been  forced  to  watch  all  this  stuff  1 
 on  television  the  last  five  years.  2 
 But  I  think  you  three  gentlemen  should  be  given  3 
 the  Congressional  Medal  of  Honor  for  patriotism  for  4 
 defending  our  democracy,  because  I  see  democracy  under  5 
 attack  in  many  different  forms.  But  basically  there's  a  6 
 confluence  between  capitalism  and  our  society  and  capitalism  7 
 is  winning.  8 
 There's  a  great  book  just  coming  out  by  William  9 
 Grieder  called  The  Soul  of  Capitalism  in  which  he  states  10 
 clearly  why  there  is  no  soul  in  capitalism,  and  what  we  need  11 
 to  do  to  change  things  before  we  lose  what  we  have  in  12 
 America.  But  what  you  gentlemen  have  before  you  is  the  13 
 chance  to  help  really  improve  our  country  and  our  democracy,  14 
 things  that  have  been  stated  by  all  these  people.  And  I'm  15 
 so  glad  to  be  here  in  the  start  in  Charlotte,  and  I  feel  16 
 very  honored  you're  here  helping  us.  17 
 I  want  to  offer  one  example.  We  had  a  great  18 
 example  by  Ms.  Merritt  about  what  happens  to  people  when  19 
 they  let  the  different  industries  consolidate  to  such  a  20 
 great  degree  that  people  are  squeezed  out  and  our  values  are  21 
 squeezed  out  with  it.  22 
 My  example,  and  it  comes  from  my  heart,  is  I  have  23 
 a  favorite  candidate  in  the  democratic  election  coming  up,  24 
 and  I've  been  watching  C-  Span  for  the  last  almost  year,  I  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  105 
 guess  it  is,  and  I've  seen  them  perform  in  Iowa  over  and  1 
 over  and  over  again,  and  I  know  these  people  are  doing  well.  2 
 My  candidate  came  on  CNN,  the  first  chance  they  3 
 had  for  mass  media,  communication  to  the  world,  and  he  got  4 
 of  all  the  candidates  --  everyone  got  at  least  55  percent  5 
 more  time  than  he  got.  One  of  them  got  174  percent  more  6 
 time  than  he  got.  His  name  is  Senator  Dennis  --  7 
 Representative  Dennis  Kusinich  from  Ohio.  8 
 The  polls  that  they  tell  us  about  are  that  he  has  9 
 two  percent  of  the  population  are  for  him.  They  don't  poll  10 
 in  Iowa  and  they  don't  tell  you  that.  11 
 MS.  HARMAN:  Thank  you  for  allowing  me  to  be  here  12 
 tonight  to  share  our  story.  My  name  is  Rita  Harman.  I'm  13 
 with  the  American  Cancer  Society.  The  American  Cancer  14 
 Society  is  a  national  nonprofit  organization,  and  our  goal  15 
 is  to  eliminate  cancer.  We  also  do  research,  education,  16 
 service  and  advocacy  in  the  community.  17 
 We've  had  an  opportunity  to  partner  with  several  18 
 radio  stations  and  television  stations  locally.  WSOC,  WGIB,  19 
 WBAV,  NPR,  WFAE  and  several  other  stations  we've  had  an  20 
 opportunity  to  partner  with  over  the  last  few  years.  21 
 They  have  given  us  an  opportunity  to  share  our  22 
 message,  to  create  awareness  about  cancer  and  cancer  23 
 prevention  in  the  community,  and  we  certainly  appreciate  24 
 that.  We  could  not  have  done  that  without  them.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  106 
 The  American  Cancer  Society  does  not  have  a  media  1 
 budget,  so  we  appreciate  the  opportunity  to  go  on  their  2 
 stations,  to  take  survivors  and  talk  about  their  issues  and  3 
 what  the  American  Cancer  Society  can  do  for  them  and  for  4 
 those  we  hope  will  never  be  diagnosed  with  cancer.  5 
 We  also  appreciate  the  opportunity  to  partner  with  6 
 stations  like  the  Link,  we  partner  with  WBTV.  They  have  7 
 given  us  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  --  let  me  back  up  8 
 and  say  we  have  given  them  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  9 
 a  program  we  call  Relay  for  Life.  10 
 In  partnering  with  them  we've  been  able  to  raise  11 
 over  $500,000  for  our  cancer  research.  And  our  hope  is  that  12 
 in  the  future  we  will  be  able  to  continue  to  partner  with  13 
 organizations  like  WBAV  and  like  WBTV  in  order  to  create  14 
 additional  awareness  about  cancer  and  cancer  prevention.  I  15 
 thank  you  all  for  this  opportunity  to  speak  tonight.  16 
 MR.  DAY:  Chairman  Powell  and  Commissioners  and  17 
 panelists,  my  name  is  Steve  Day  and  I  was  one  of  the  18 
 announcers  from  Los  Angeles  who  provided  North  Carolina  19 
 stations  with  music  and  announcers  back  in  1987  when  the  20 
 Fairness  Doctrine  was  eliminated  and  the  veto  could  not  be  21 
 overturned.  That  displaced  some  1500  to  2500  local  22 
 announcers  in  small  and  medium  markets,  and  that  continues  23 
 today.  24 
 I  have  quit  my  LMA  appointment  job  at  a  station  in  25 
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 California  because  the  owners  were  telling  me  to  take  on  the  1 
 responsibility  to  offer  local  programming  to  two  other  2 
 cities  outside  my  city.  This  happens  every  day  in  small  and  3 
 medium  markets.  I  have  travelled  2500  miles  from  California  4 
 in  my  car  to  tell  you  today  that  this  is  happening  in  over  5 
 10,000  radio  stations.  6 
 Does  it  concern  the  FCC  at  all  that  75  to  80  7 
 percent  of  small  and  medium  sized  stations  do  not  have  an  8 
 individual  or  human  being  at  that  station  from  8:  00  P.  M.  9 
 until  5  A.  M.  in  the  morning?  Not  all  stations  do  this.  10 
 Would  it  concern  the  FCC  at  all  to  know  that  that  11 
 percentage  of  stations  do  not  have  an  attendant  from  Friday  12 
 at  8  P.  M.  to  Monday  morning  when  at  5  A.  M.  when  the  local  13 
 crew  comes  in?  14 
 Ten  billion  dollars  is  invested  in  one  diversified  15 
 company  alone,  and  multi-  millions  are  invested  by  those  same  16 
 banks  that  invest  in  Arbitron,  their  rating  service.  17 
 I'll  be  heading  to  D.  C.  tomorrow  and  I'll  be  18 
 talking  with  representatives  to  change  the  legislation  so  19 
 that  you  can  articulate  that  said  legislation  of  the  20 
 political  party  that  is  in  control.  In  August  I  met  with  21 
 Representative  Robin  Hayes,  one  of  his  assistants.  I  told  22 
 him  about  this  and  he  seemed  very,  very  concerned.  23 
 I'll  be  talking  with  someone,  an  advisor,  not  the  24 
 National  Security  Advisor  herself,  but  an  aid  to  her  to  25 
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 discuss  would  this  be  at  all  important  to  those  involved  in  1 
 terrorism  --  counter-  terrorism  to  know  that  this  country  is  2 
 left  alone  at  night  until  5  A.  M.  in  the  mornings  and  on  the  3 
 weekends.  4 
 I'll  be  asking  representatives  in  Congress  to  help  5 
 you  find  these  people,  imprison  them  if  necessary,  and  get  6 
 to  their  pocketbooks.  7 
 MR.  CUNNINGHAM:  Hello.  My  name  is  Darrell  8 
 Cunningham  and  I  represent  Mothers  of  Murdered  Offspring  9 
 MOMO  is  a  Charlotte-  based  501C3  organization  dedicated  to  10 
 the  reduction  of  violence  in  our  community.  MOMO  has  a  good  11 
 working  relationship  with  our  local  radio  and  TV  stations,  12 
 WSOC,  WCNC,  WCCB,  WBTV,  News  14  Carolina,  WFAE,  WBT  radio,  13 
 WBAB,  WPEG,  WCHH,  just  to  name  a  few.  14 
 We  would  like  to  thank  the  stations  previously  15 
 mentioned  for  helping  our  organization  throughout  its  16 
 history.  For  example,  the  promotion  of  our  nine  annual  17 
 nonviolence  weekends,  coverage  of  our  community  candlelight  18 
 memorial  services,  coverage  of  our  balloon  release  and  19 
 remembrance,  the  celebration  of  our  over  ten  years  of  20 
 service,  and  their  continued  dedication  to  keep  unsolved  21 
 cases  in  the  public  eye  and  help  seek  justice.  22 
 I  recognize  that  there's  been  a  great  deal  of  23 
 attention  paid  to  broadcast  localism  at  the  FCC  over  the  24 
 last  several  weeks.  I'm  here  for  two  reasons.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  109 
 First  I  would  like  to  say  thank  you  to  the  1 
 previous  stations  mentioned,  and  I  would  like  to  say  as  a  2 
 North  Carolinian  I'm  here  to  tell  you  from  a  local  3 
 perspective  broadcast  localism  is  alive  and  well  in  the  4 
 Carolinas.  Thank  you.  5 
 MR.  FORCELLO:  Mr.  Chairman,  my  name  is  Bob  6 
 Forcello  (phonetic).  I'm  from  the  North  Carolina  Center  for  7 
 Missing  Persons;  a  letter  will  follow  from  the  Secretary  of  8 
 Crime  Control  and  Public  Safety.  I'm  the  Amber  Alert  9 
 project  officer  here  in  North  Carolina.  I'm  here  to  support  10 
 local  broadcasting.  11 
 If  it  were  not  for  the  local  broadcasters  in  North  12 
 Carolina's  Association  of  Broadcasters  there  would  be  no  13 
 Amber  Alert.  Since  the  bill  was  signed  into  law  in  North  14 
 Carolina  on  June  12th,  we  have  had  two  Amber  Alerts.  It's  15 
 not  business,  I  believe,  that  prompts  the  broadcasters  to  16 
 get  involved.  I  think  it's  community  spirit.  17 
 The  North  Carolina  Association  of  Broadcasters  has  18 
 been  instrumental  in  developing  the  Amber  Alert  program  and  19 
 keeping  it  alive.  Again,  a  letter  will  follow  from  the  20 
 Secretary  of  Crime  Control  and  Public  Safety.  21 
 MS.  PEVIA:  Mr.  Chairman,  my  name  is  Wanda  Pevia.  22 
 (phonetic).  I'm  here  to  tell  you  a  little  personal  story.  23 
 My  daughter  was  abducted  in  June  of  1999.  She  was  returned  24 
 home  this  past  March  2003.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  the  local  25 
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 news  media,  the  man  who  abducted  my  daughter,  he  would  never  1 
 have  been  apprehended.  2 
 I  want  to  thank  the  local  news  media  and  the  local  3 
 radio  stations  for  their  help  and  support  in  apprehending  4 
 him.  Thank  you.  5 
 AUDIENCE  PARTICIPANT:  How's  everybody  doing?  6 
 Look,  my  problem's  not  as  big  as  some  of  the  problems  7 
 addressed  here,  but  obviously  local  artists  being  played  on  8 
 the  radio  is  a  big  issue  because  we  have  a  panelist  that  is  9 
 a  representative  of  that.  10 
 So  in  turn  I  have  a  --  I'm  part  of  a  company.  My  11 
 name  is  Gus.  My  professional  pseudonym  is  G-  U-$.  I'm  from  12 
 Charlotte  and  basically  I've  been  in  music  my  whole  life.  13 
 So  I'm  one  of  the  best,  but  I  haven't  been  respected  as  14 
 that.  I  don't  know  why,  but  I  know  I'm  part  of  this  record  15 
 label  named  Policy  Entertainment  Group  LLC,  and  we've  made  16 
 many  efforts,  especially  with  stations  like  92.7  about  17 
 getting  play.  18 
 We  have  BDS  encoding  and  MP-  3  format  and  19 
 everything  technically  that  needed  to  be  done.  We're  street  20 
 certified  because  that's  all  I  know.  And  forgive  my  rugged  21 
 exterior,  but  that's  where  I'm  coming  from  with  this.  22 
 So  basically  I  was  just  pulling  off  what  people  23 
 have  been  talking  about  today,  they've  helped  out  local  24 
 artists  as  much  as  they  can.  I've  only  heard  of  one  25 
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 referral  to  a  local  artist,  which  is,  like,  ridiculous  1 
 because  we  have,  like,  a  million  local  artists  that  haven't  2 
 been  heard  on  the  radio  and  turning  out,  like  I  say,  to  the  3 
 community.  4 
 And  to  the  panelists,  I  appreciate  your  support  5 
 and  your  inquiry  about  this  topic  right  here  because  it  is  6 
 important.  I  just  want  to  stress  that  importance.  I'm  7 
 going  to  keep  it  short.  Thanks.  8 
 MR.  BOW:  Mr.  Chairman,  my  name  is  Wally  Bow  and  9 
 I'm  a  journalist  living  in  Asheville,  North  Carolina.  I  10 
 moved  to  Asheville  in  1983  to  become  the  director  of  the  11 
 news  bureau  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  there.  I'd  12 
 like  to  describe  the  changes  in  local  broadcast  journalism  13 
 I've  witnessed  over  the  last  twenty  years.  14 
 Over  the  first  two  or  three  years  we  could  call  a  15 
 major  press  conference  for  our  major  news  we  had,  such  as  16 
 hiring  a  new  chancellor  or  a  million  dollar  grant,  and  we  17 
 would  have  three  or  four  radio  journalists  show  up  as  well  18 
 as  three  TV  journalists,  one  from  our  local  ABC  affiliate  19 
 and  one  each  from  Spartenburg,  the  CBS  affiliate,  and  20 
 Greenville,  the  NBC  affiliate,  both  of  which  had  bureaus  in  21 
 Asheville  at  that  time,  and  of  course  we  had  local  print  22 
 done  on  us  as  well.  23 
 However,  by  1990  this  picture  had  changed  24 
 radically  as  the  locally  owned  radio  stations  were  bought  up  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  112 
 by  bigger  media  companies  and  they  began  dismantling  the  1 
 local  news  operations.  By  1990  only  one  commercial  radio  2 
 station  in  western  North  Carolina  had  a  full-  time  field  3 
 reporter  and  studio  news  staff  sufficient  to  produce  a  daily  4 
 local  news  program.  5 
 I  should  add  that  the  24  county  region  of  western  6 
 North  Carolina  is  roughly  the  size  of  the  State  of  Vermont.  7 
 Today  that  radio  station,  after  being  purchased  by  Clear  8 
 Channel  three  years  ago,  no  longer  has  a  field  reporter.  9 
 And  instead  of  producing  twenty  minutes  of  local  news  with  10 
 hourly  updates,  the  reduced  news  staff  now  only  produces  11 
 nine  minutes  a  day.  None  of  that  news  reporting  is  done  out  12 
 in  the  field  or  in  the  community  and  is  regularly  from  the  13 
 Associated  Press.  14 
 The  Greenville-  Spartenburg  TV  stations  after  15 
 having  been  purchased  by  large  broadcast  chains  have  closed  16 
 their  Asheville  bureaus  leaving  us  only  with  our  local  ABC  17 
 affiliate.  Today  a  major  news  conference  will  probably  get  18 
 zero  broadcast  journalists.  19 
 Clearly  the  growing  concentration  of  media  20 
 ownership  has  greatly  reduced  the  amount  of  local  broadcast  21 
 news  media  in  the  mountain  region.  22 
 To  add  insult  to  injury,  several  years  ago  our  23 
 local  ABC  affiliate  was  purchased  by  Sinclair  Broadcasting  24 
 which  soon  began  featuring  editorials  by  a  fellow  named  Mark  25 
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 Himan  from  an  undisclosed  location  identified  only  as  news  1 
 central.  2 
 What  was  even  more  puzzling  to  viewers  in  the  3 
 mountains  was  that  every  four  to  fifth  editorial  blasted  the  4 
 liberal  legislature  not  in  North  Carolina,  but  in  Maryland.  5 
 Why  are  viewers  in  western  North  Carolina  hearing  editorial  6 
 commentaries  about  the  Maryland  Legislature?  It  turns  out  7 
 that  Sinclair  is  based  in  Baltimore.  8 
 Clearly  Sinclair  is  using  its  local  affiliates  not  9 
 to  produce  or  comment  on  the  local  news,  but  to  promote  10 
 their  editorial  viewpoints  and  issues  of  little  interest  to  11 
 the  citizens  of  western  North  Carolina.  12 
 Please  put  the  brakes  on  media  ownership  with  13 
 further  consolidation.  Please  support  issues  like  the  Mayor  14 
 of  Charlotte  mentioned  allowing  local  communities  to  enforce  15 
 their  cable  franchise  agreements,  to  have  more  public  access  16 
 TV.  17 
 I  do  want  to  thank  you  for  the  low  power  FM  radio  18 
 initiative.  Thanks.  19 
 MS.  ELWELL:  My  name  is  Beverly  Elwell  and  I  am  a  20 
 hard  of  hearing  consumer.  If  localism  means  responsiveness  21 
 by  a  broadcaster,  cable  operator,  satellite  distributors,  22 
 and  other  multi-  channel  video  programming  distributors  to  23 
 its  community,  then  we  need  to  understand  that  what's  24 
 already  in  place  by  the  FCC  through  the  Telecommunications  25 
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 Act  of  1996,  and  that  is  about  closed  captioning  and  using  1 
 closed  captioning  correctly  for  deaf  and  hard  of  hearing  2 
 consumers.  3 
 But  I  want  to  especially  address  why  it's  so  4 
 important  during  emergencies  and  disaster  situations.  As  5 
 you  see  on  this  television  we  have  here,  and  you've  got  a  6 
 monitor  over  there,  but  this  is  realtime  captioning.  7 
 Everything  is  being  captioned,  everything  that's  being  said  8 
 is  being  captioned.  And  that's  great  when  it's  got  a  9 
 certain  line  that  is  being  scrolled  and  used  for  closed  10 
 captioning.  11 
 When  local  networks  use  scrolling  or  the  scripting  12 
 process,  then  sometimes  they're  using  the  same  line  so  it  13 
 covers  up  the  closed  captioning  which  is  not  supposed  to  14 
 happen.  15 
 So  what  I  would  like  to  see  as  would  other  600,000  16 
 deaf  and  hard  of  hearing  individuals  in  the  State  of  North  17 
 Carolina  is  that  closed  captioning  be  used  appropriately,  18 
 and  not  have  the  local  networks  or  any  network  say  well,  we  19 
 can't  do  that  because  of  the  bottom  dollar  that  it  requires.  20 
 It's  already  the  law;  rules  were  already  provided  21 
 for  it.  We  just  need  to  learn  and  enforce  the  appropriate  22 
 use  of  closed  captioning.  Thank  you.  23 
 MR.  CASTRO:  Good  evening  and  welcome  to  24 
 Charlotte.  My  name  is  Hermonie  Castro  (phonetic);  I'm  the  25 
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 chair  of  the  Hispanic  Political  Coalition  of  Mecklenburg  1 
 County.  And  as  a  concerned  citizen  of  Charlotte  and  having  2 
 lived  in  this  community  for  over  thirty  years,  I  would  like  3 
 to  bring  some  points  to  the  attention  of  the  Commission.  4 
 First  of  all,  during  the  time  I  have  lived  in  this  5 
 community,  I  have  seen  the  disappearance  of  locally  owned  6 
 media  to  the  point  that  this  community  in  the  television  7 
 area  has  only  one  locally  owned  channel.  With  the  ownership  8 
 of  the  media  changing  from  local  to  a  few  national  and  9 
 global  companies,  there  has  been  a  continuing  separation  of  10 
 local  coverage  and  community  involvement.  11 
 There  are  some  exceptions  as  in  WPEG,  Power  98,  a  12 
 radio  station  that  has  partnered  with  the  Latino  community  13 
 in  a  campaign  to  register  voters  on  a  daily  basis.  Over  the  14 
 last  five  years  we  have  registered  around  25,  000  voters,  15 
 and  have  through  their  community  focus  programs  have  been  16 
 able  to  educate  the  community  of  the  civic  duties  of  the  17 
 succession  of  the  right  to  vote,  as  well  as  explaining  how  18 
 the  municipal  county  and  state  and  government  work  and  how  19 
 to  contact  their  elected  official.  They  have  also  sponsored  20 
 the  Latin-  American  Festival.  21 
 Another  bright  spot  for  us  has  been  the  Hispanic  22 
 radio  station,  1030  AM.  This  station  has  excelled  in  the  23 
 involvement  and  service  to  the  Latino  community  in  all  the  24 
 areas  that  concern  us.  25 
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 To  summarize,  we  would  like  to  see  more  community  1 
 coverage  and  involvement  of  the  local  media  and  are  opposed  2 
 to  the  consolidation  of  the  ownership  of  the  media  as  has  3 
 recently  happened  with  the  Spanish  speaking  TV  and  radio  4 
 network,  and  is  being  sponsored  by  the  FCC.  5 
 This  consolidation  will  only  result  in  the  6 
 diminishing  of  balance  and  diverse  opinions  that  the  7 
 American  people  deserve.  Thank  you.  8 
 MR.  BRAWLEY:  Mr.  Chairman,  thank  you  for  9 
 extending  the  time  for  public  comment.  My  name  is  Bill  10 
 Brawley  and  I'm  a  former  elected  and  appointed  official  here  11 
 locally,  but  I'm  speaking  as  a  private  citizen.  12 
 Recently  I've  been  aware  of  a  commercial  campaign  13 
 that's  touted  how  good  a  major  station  owner  is  in  the  14 
 Charlotte  area.  I  haven't  heard  anything  tonight  to  say  the  15 
 local  stations  couldn't  be  just  as  user  friendly.  16 
 I  have  15  FM  stations  programmed  with  the  buttons  17 
 on  my  car.  I'm  guilty  of  channel  surfing.  When  commercials  18 
 come  on,  I  look  for  music  and  a  lot  of  them  belong  to  that  19 
 major  system  operator.  It  is  my  perception  that  all  of  20 
 their  stations  run  commercials  at  the  same  time.  My  three  21 
 teenagers  have  made  the  same  comment  to  me.  22 
 We  expect  corporations  to  use  their  financial  23 
 integration  to  affect  their  bottom  line.  It's  the  American  24 
 way;  it's  the  way  we  do  things  in  a  competitive  society.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  117 
 But  broadcasting  is  not  as  competitive  because  there's  not  1 
 free  entry.  There  is  limited  space  on  the  dial  and  you  have  2 
 to  allocate  it.  Economists  call  this  the  commons  problem.  3 
 It  relates  to  the  common  grazing  areas  in  the  4 
 English  villages  that  were  often  over  grazed  and  in  poor  5 
 shape.  The  reason  being  it  is  in  the  individual  self-  6 
 interest  in  maximizing  its  own  benefit  of  the  common  7 
 resource.  We've  seen  it  tonight.  How  many  people  ran  past  8 
 the  red  light  and  burned  up  the  time  that  others  of  us  would  9 
 not  have  had  had  you  not  extended  the  time  tonight.  We  10 
 can't  expect  corporations  to  not  act  like  the  people  that  11 
 are  in  them.  12 
 We  must  restrict  the  influence  of  any  one  group  or  13 
 any  individual.  So  I  ask  you  to  restrict  the  ownership  14 
 rules  further.  Thank  you.  15 
 MR.  HONEYCUTT:  Hi,  I'm  Rick  Honeycutt.  I'm  a  16 
 satellite  retailer,  and  the  reason  why  I'm  here  is  the  local  17 
 broadcasters  have  been  slow  in  making  high  definition  18 
 television  service  available  to  the  satellite  TV  retailer.  19 
 My  customers  tell  me  that  the  Charlotte  broadcast  20 
 station  HDTV  is  not  currently  available  to  everyone  in  the  21 
 Charlotte  TV  market.  For  instance,  many  rural  households  22 
 located  within  Ashe,  Watauga,  Caudwell  and  Burke  Counties  23 
 cannot  receive  the  broadcast  high  definition  setting.  24 
 I  have  a  two-  part  question.  As  the  expert  agent  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  118 
 on  the  digital  transition,  would  you  support  the  creation  of  1 
 a  task  force  in  determining  whether  rural  households  2 
 currently  receive  the  digital  signal  or  their  local  networks  3 
 and  independent  stations?  4 
 And  upon  determination  that  some  households  are  5 
 not  able  to  receive  this  signal,  would  you  support  allowing  6 
 cable  and  satellite  operators  to  provide  distant  HDTV  7 
 signals  in  the  same  way  as  they  provide  distant  analog  8 
 service?  Thank  you.  9 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  We'll  try  to  get  someone  to  help  10 
 answer  your  question.  11 
 MS.  FOX:  Hi.  I'm  Susan  Fox;  I'm  from  Charlotte.  12 
 And  as  so  many  other  people  have  said  and  Ms.  Merritt  too,  13 
 talking  about  the  huge  corporations  that  are  eating  up  all  14 
 the  media  in  local  areas  and  how  destructive  this  is  because  15 
 all  they  care  about  is  their  bottom  line.  And  that's  fine,  16 
 but  the  public  airwaves  are  a  privilege  and  so  therefore  17 
 it's  a  little  bit  different.  18 
 The  FCC  has  a  responsibility  of  making  sure  they  19 
 use  that  responsibly  and  not  just  take  over  the  whole  thing.  20 
 The  deregulation,  I  know,  started  in  the  eighties,  but  it's  21 
 just  gotten  worse  and  worse  and  worse,  and  now  it's  coming  22 
 to  the  part  that  if  it's  allowed  to  continue,  then  we're  all  23 
 going  to  lose,  and  please  don't  let  that  happen.  Thank  you.  24 
 MR.  DELILY:  Hello  everyone.  I  am  Jake  DeLily  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  119 
 (phonetic),  a  COO  of  an  independent  music  outlet  for  the  1 
 Charlotte,  North  Carolina  area.  I  just  want  to  start  off  by  2 
 saying  my  father  used  to  have  a  little  saying  when  he  said  a  3 
 lie  will  travel  all  around  the  world,  while  the  truth  sits  4 
 at  home  putting  its  boots  on.  5 
 And  what  you're  hearing  right  now  is  a  lie  and  I'm  6 
 going  to  say  it  in  front  of  these  people  and  the  7 
 representatives  from  the  radio  stations  because  I've  been  8 
 here  my  whole  life.  I'm  from  Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  9 
 We've  been  hearing  from  people  who  are  not  affiliated  with  10 
 me  who  were  involved  in  the  same  struggle  for  years  before  I  11 
 even  got  --  I'm  a  graduate  of  North  Carolina  Central  12 
 University  and  I  was  in  school  during  this  time  when  other  13 
 people  were  trying  to  do  what  I'm  trying  to  do  now,  and  the  14 
 result  is  always  the  same.  15 
 I  can  call  examples  like  Sunshine  Edison,  Anthony  16 
 Hamilton,  Jealousy,  and  Horace  Brown  who  are  from  Charlotte,  17 
 North  Carolina  who  had  to  leave  Charlotte  to  go  to  18 
 California  or  New  York  or  New  Jersey  to  get  their  records  19 
 played.  And  that's  a  fact.  20 
 I  can  also  tell  you  that's  a  fact  that  if  you  are  21 
 in  the  club  or  somewhere  on  the  radio  station,  your  music  is  22 
 not  going  to  get  played  unless  you're  going  to  pay  somebody,  23 
 and  that's  a  fact.  And  people  may  dispute  that,  but  I  can  24 
 give  you  facts  and  examples  and  people  who  can  testify  and  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  120 
 witness  to  these  truths.  1 
 So  I'm  not  here  to  come  and  try  to  tell  you  about  2 
 my  life  because  I  don't  want  you  to  know  where  I'm  from.  3 
 I'm  here  on  the  strength  of  the  local  artists.  And  I  also  4 
 want  to  take  a  leadership  step  and  say  that  along  with  5 
 everybody  else  in  here,  that  their  fight  is  my  fight  because  6 
 we  both  want  the  goal  of  what's  right.  7 
 So  to  Ms.  Kwei  and  to  Mrs.  Avery,  on  behalf  of  the  8 
 urban  artists,  we  just  want  what's  right  and  that's  it.  9 
 MR.  QUINTEE:  Thank  you.  My  name  is  Anthony  10 
 Quintee  (phonetic).  I  would  like  to  thank  everybody  who  put  11 
 this  together.  This  is  a  beautiful  opportunity  for  the  12 
 community  to  come  out  and  vent,  and  that's  a  beautiful  13 
 gesture.  14 
 However,  it's  a  tragedy  that  100  percent  of  the  15 
 community  is  not  being  represented  here  tonight,  and  not  16 
 because  of  ignorance,  not  because  of  complacency,  because  of  17 
 lack  of  knowledge,  lack  of  knowing  about  this.  18 
 I  personally  called  three  North  Carolina  radio  19 
 stations  yesterday  evening.  Two  of  them  told  me  they  knew  20 
 nothing  about  this  meeting;  they  knew  nothing  of  the  FCC  21 
 being  in  town  this  week.  One  of  them  informed  me  that,  you  22 
 know  what,  they  are  in  town,  and  they  got  a  meeting  at  7:  15  23 
 at  the  Charlotte  Convention  Center.  Not  here.  24 
 So  yeah,  there  are  lies;  there's  lies  all  over  the  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  121 
 place.  I'm  a  starving  artist;  emphasis  on  starving.  And  1 
 just  like  every  other  artist  in  here,  I  think  I'm  the  2 
 hottest  thing  that  hit  Charlotte  since  the  Carolina  3 
 Panthers.  But  you  know  what?  That's  not  for  me  to  decide.  4 
 That's  for  the  audience  and  the  community  to  decide.  5 
 And  they  cannot  decide  if  I  do  not  have  access  of  6 
 a  medium  to  go  to  somewhere  where  my  music  can  be  heard,  7 
 where  I  can  be  heard,  you  know.  And  for  us  being  local  8 
 artists  here  in  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  I  mean,  that's  9 
 the  only  avenue  we  have.  Without  radio,  it's  hard;  it's  10 
 hard.  You  have  to  come  out  of  the  pocket  a  little  bit.  11 
 And,  you  know,  I'm  sorry,  you  know,  contrary  to  12 
 popular  belief,  in  2003  in  North  Carolina,  and  I'm  sorry  to  13 
 burst  your  bubble,  payola  does  exist.  And  it's  very  bad,  14 
 it's  buried  all  over  America,  you  know.  That's  really  all  I  15 
 have  to  say.  Thank  you  for  coming.  16 
 MS.  BLAGEN:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Commissioners,  my  17 
 name  is  Krista  Blagen  (phonetic);  I'm  with  the  Arts  and  18 
 Science  Council  and  thank  you  for  this  opportunity  to  speak.  19 
 Advancing  arts  and  science  and  history  is  the  driving  force  20 
 of  the  Arts  and  Science  Council,  and  the  primary  area  of  21 
 implementing  our  work  is  through  our  annual  fund  drive,  and  22 
 we  are  currently  the  number  one  united  artist  fund  drive  in  23 
 the  country,  raising  over  10.  1  million  to  support  cultural  24 
 education,  28  cultural  affiliates,  creative  individuals  and  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  122 
 neighborhood  local  programming.  1 
 The  Charlotte  media  have  been  very  receptive  to  2 
 the  critical  role  that  culture  plays  in  the  role  of  the  3 
 Charlotte-  Mecklenburg  community  and  enables  the  Arts  and  4 
 Science  Council  to  get  the  word  out.  We  rely  on  those  5 
 relationships  to  help  inform  listeners  and  viewers  about  our  6 
 efforts  to  enhance  the  cultural  community  and  the  quality  of  7 
 life.  8 
 Examples  of  support  from  TV  and  radio  are  covering  9 
 ASC  events  and  projects  on  News  14,  WSOC-  TV,  WBTV,  WCCB,  10 
 WFAE,  WPEG,  WBAV  and  WDAV  and  a  host  of  others.  11 
 We  also  receive  in  kind  contributions  and  airtime  12 
 from  various  radio  stations  and  TV  stations  for  PSAs.  And  13 
 also  another  critical  thing  is  that  media  executives  and  14 
 staff  people,  also  may  serve  and  understand  the  importance  15 
 of  the  cultural  community  by  serving  on  the  ASC  board  of  16 
 directors  and  also  on  our  great  panels.  17 
 We  just  want  to  thank  the  Charlotte  media  for  18 
 supporting  the  Arts  and  Science  Council  and  understanding  19 
 the  importance  that  art,  science  and  history  plays  in  the  20 
 role  of  enhancing  our  cultural  community.  Thank  you.  21 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  just  urge  the  speakers  to  be  22 
 very  brief.  We  have  a  whole  other  panel  waiting  patiently  23 
 and  I  want  to  get  these  others  done.  24 
 MS.  ECHERVERRI:  Good  evening.  Thank  you  for  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  123 
 giving  me  the  opportunity.  My  name  is  Olma  Echerverri  and  I  1 
 am  co-  chair  of  the  Hispanic  Board  Coalition.  And  I  can  2 
 assure  you  that  the  chair  and  I  prepared  our  statements  3 
 separately,  so  if  I  am  repetitive.  4 
 I'm  here  to  commend  the  efforts  of  WPG,  Power  98,  5 
 in  regards  to  voter  registration  and  civic  involvement,  as  6 
 well  as  in  helping  to  bring  together  the  African-  American  7 
 and  Latino  communities.  8 
 But  there  is  room  for  improvement;  there  always  9 
 is.  When  the  station  was  asked  to  give  a  public  service  10 
 announcement  about  the  immigrant  worker  freedom  right,  a  11 
 nationally  recognized  event,  this  request  was  denied  because  12 
 it  was  so-  called  too  political.  Well,  in  the  world  around  13 
 us  and  in  this  community  that  is  precisely  what  we  need  to  14 
 report,  political  and  controversial  issues.  Nevertheless,  15 
 we  continue  to  look  forward  to  building  bridges  with  WPG  for  16 
 many  years  to  come.  17 
 I  also  want  to  commend  the  local  Hispanic  radio  18 
 station,  WNOW-  1030  AM.  They  provide  a  daily  life  line  19 
 between  the  limited  English  speaking  population  in  the  20 
 community.  We  would  like  for  them  to  remain  independent  21 
 because  we  do  not  trust  them  any  other  way.  Thank  you.  22 
 MR.  HUSS:  Hi  there.  My  name  is  Joe  Huss,  and  I'm  23 
 just  a  concerned  citizen.  And  I'm  here  to  explain  that  TV,  24 
 what's  going  on  with  TV.  I  was  never  a  big  TV  watcher  and  I  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  124 
 didn't  own  a  TV  for  many,  many  years.  But  I  decided  I  was  1 
 being  left  out  of  the  political  process,  watching  debates  on  2 
 TV,  and  also  I  like  to  find  out  the  news  on  TV  locally.  3 
 So  I  have  a  very  valid  interest  in  local  news  and  4 
 local  control.  But  also  I've  noticed  the  commercials.  The  5 
 commercials  seem  to  be  getting  more  and  more  of  the  program.  6 
 Now,  that's  fine  to  a  point  you  change  channels,  but  7 
 children  watch  this  stuff.  8 
 And,  you  know,  there  are  studies  that  have  been  9 
 done  and  noticed  that  these  children,  their  attention  span  10 
 goes  to  only  how  long  the  program  is.  We're  kind  of  pre-  11 
 programming  our  children  to  have  short  attention  spans.  And  12 
 you  can  think  of  the  consequences  that's  going  to  be  further  13 
 down  the  road.  14 
 Another  point  I  want  to  bring  is  that  my  15 
 girlfriend  has  two  young  children  and  she  has  to  be  16 
 concerned  and  I  have  to  be  concerned  on  where  they  go  to  17 
 people's  houses,  neighbor's  houses,  because  of  what's  on  TV.  18 
 The  sexual  content,  the  language,  I  wouldn't  want  an  eight-  19 
 year-  old  using  a  lot  of  the  language  they  use  on  TV  today.  20 
 And  yet,  it's  right  there,  so  we  can't  keep  them  from  going  21 
 into  their  houses  unless  we  know,  you  know,  what  kind  of  TV  22 
 they're  watching.  And  I  think  that's  a  very  important  23 
 consideration  because  we're  not  protecting  our  children.  24 
 Thank  you.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  125 
 MR.  CLEMENT:  My  name  is  Howard  Clement.  I'm  1 
 presently  a  member  of  the  Durham  City  Council,  having  served  2 
 as  mayor  pro  tem  of  the  Durham,  North  Carolina  City  Council.  3 
 I'm  in  my  21st  year  as  a  member  of  the  Durham  City  Council.  4 
 Since  1971  it's  been  my  privilege  to  serve  as  a  5 
 member  of  the  minority  affairs  advisory  committee  for  WTVD,  6 
 the  ABC  affiliate  in  Durham,  North  Carolina.  And  since  1971  7 
 I  want  to  commend  WTVD  for  its  efforts  in  bringing  minority  8 
 interests  to  the  forum  using  the  television  as  a  venue  for  9 
 that  possibility.  10 
 There's  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  television,  and  11 
 especially  WTVD,  has  had  a  great  impact  in  our  community  12 
 over  the  years  because  of  its  inclusion  of  minorities  and  13 
 other  interest  groups  into  its  television  format.  14 
 During  this  period  I  also  want  to  commend  WTVD  for  15 
 advocating  the  concerns  and  interest  of  the  North  Carolina  16 
 Food  Bank.  Over  400,  000  people,  and  I  used  to  serve  on  the  17 
 board  of  the  Food  Bank,  of  the  North  Carolina  Food  Bank,  18 
 over  400,  000  people  at  risk  for  hunger  and  poverty  are  19 
 served  by  the  good  work  of  WTVD  and  other  media  outlets.  20 
 Thank  God  for  television;  thank  God  for  WTVD  for  21 
 serving  the  public  interest.  As  long  as  these  mass  media  22 
 outlets  continue  to  serve  the  public  interest  and  at  the  23 
 local  level,  I  think  the  interest  of  the  free  market  and  air  24 
 transmission  of  ideas  will  be  served.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  126 
 And  I  want  to  thank  the  FCC  for  coming  to  this  1 
 part  of  North  Carolina.  I  wish  it  could  come  to  the  mecca  2 
 of  North  Carolina  to  have  this  hearing.  But  the  fact  3 
 remains  you're  here  and  we  are  grateful  for  this  4 
 opportunity.  5 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much  and  thank  6 
 you  for  the  patience  to  get  through  everyone  who  wanted  to  7 
 speak.  We  did  chew  heavily  into  the  time.  I  would  propose  8 
 that  we  take  just  a  two  minute  break;  some  of  us  must  take  a  9 
 two  minute  break,  and  we'll  start  again  sharp.  10 
 I  propose  that  we  start  no  later  than  8:  30  and  11 
 give  the  panelists  who  have  waited  patiently  an  opportunity  12 
 to  finish,  and  hopefully  we'll  be  done  by  8:  50,  8:  55  and  13 
 that  will  give  us  plenty  of  time.  Thank  you  very  much  and  14 
 we'll  take  a  quick  break.  15 
 (Short  recess.)  16 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  If  we  could  get  started,  please.  17 
 We'd  like  to  start  our  second  panel,  and  because  we  did  eat  18 
 through  a  lot  of  time,  there  are  people  who  need  to  catch  19 
 flights  this  evening.  So  we  want  to  get  through  it,  and  20 
 just  to  announce  to  the  audience,  there  will  be  some  FCC  21 
 staff,  and  I  think  my  colleague,  Commissioner  Copps,  is  22 
 going  to  stay,  will  be  staying  the  night  and  will  answer  23 
 further  questions,  so  you  will  have  another  opportunity  to  24 
 speak.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  127 
 So  with  that  I  have  the  pleasure  of  starting  the  1 
 second  panel  with  Ms.  Terri  Avery  and  I  just  ask  you  begin,  2 
 please.  3 
 MS.  AVERY:  Good  evening.  I'm  Terri  Avery,  I've  4 
 been  in  the  radio  business  for  the  last  25  years  working  in  5 
 several  of  the  nation's  major  markets  and  now  in  Charlotte  6 
 with  three  stations  here  owned  by  Infinity  Broadcasting,  a  7 
 division  of  Viacom.  8 
 As  operations  manager  and  program  director,  I'm  9 
 responsible  for  everything  you  hear  on  WPEG,  WBAV  and  WGIV.  10 
 I  have  the  final  say  over  the  programming,  the  music,  the  11 
 on-  air  talent,  the  station  imaging,  and  the  commercial  12 
 production.  But  I  take  input  from  the  music  director,  the  13 
 marketing  director,  the  production  director,  the  news  and  14 
 public  affairs  directors  and  the  on-  air  personalities  at  15 
 each  station.  It  truly  takes  a  team  effort  to  make  our  16 
 stations  sound  great.  17 
 Our  ratings  just  came  in  and  the  people  of  18 
 Charlotte  voted  WPEG  number  one  and  WBAV  number  four  in  the  19 
 Charlotte-  Mecklenburg  area.  And  I  have  to  tell  you,  if  it  20 
 hadn't  been  for  our  communities,  our  African-  American  21 
 communities,  this  would  not  happened.  22 
 I  don't  have  a  big  budget  to  spend  on  promotions,  23 
 so  everything  we  do  is  because  we  super-  serve  our  24 
 communities.  And  let  there  be  no  mistake,  our  number  one  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  128 
 goal  is  to  serve  Charlotte.  Here  are  some  specifics  on  how  1 
 we  serve  Charlotte  and  the  surrounding  communities.  2 
 WBAV  is  an  urban  music  radio  station  and  provides  3 
 live  local,  state  and  national  news  coverage  each  and  every  4 
 weekday  beginning  at  5  A.  M.  on  The  Front  Page  with  Beatrice  5 
 Thompson.  Our  hour-  long  program  provides  up-  to-  the-  minute  6 
 coverage  and  news  and  information.  And  throughout  the  day  7 
 WBAV  provides  news  updates.  We  also  interrupt  regular  8 
 programming  for  breaking  news.  9 
 On  Sundays  we  have  Beatrice  Thompson's  Straight  10 
 Talk,  a  one-  hour  public  affairs  program  featuring  live  11 
 interviews  and  call-  in  opportunities  for  listeners  on  topics  12 
 ranging  from  healthcare  to  education.  13 
 WPEG  is  our  mainstream  urban-  formatted  music  14 
 station.  Its  programming  addresses  the  needs  of  Charlotte  15 
 by  dealing  with  topics  such  as  racial  issues,  health  and  the  16 
 upcoming  November  elections  and  more.  These  issues  are  17 
 tackled  on  Community  Focus  Live,  a  one-  hour  show  hosted  by  18 
 WPEG  news  director,  Sheila  Stewart,  and  airing  on  Sundays.  19 
 WPEG  will  interrupt  regular  programming  to  air  20 
 breaking  news  and  emergency  information  as  it  did  earlier  21 
 this  year  when  the  entire  State  of  North  Carolina  suffered  22 
 through  a  horrible  ice  storm  and  thousands  were  without  23 
 power.  We  aired  updates  around  the  clock  to  let  listeners  24 
 know  where  they  could  go  for  shelter  and  safety.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  129 
 Localism  doesn't  just  mean  that  we  air  news  and  1 
 public  affairs.  WPEG  has  a  specialty  one-  hour  program  2 
 called  Future  Flavas  which  showcases  local  talent  and  new  3 
 artists  in  the  industry.  Local  artists  featured  on  that  4 
 program  have  included  Low  Key,  and  Infinique,  who  5 
 incidentally  has  signed  a  record  deal  with  Rico  Wade  of  the  6 
 Dungeon  family  in  Atlanta.  7 
 Our  on-  air  personalities  are  part  of  the  community  8 
 also.  Our  own  Breakfast  Brothas  Morning  Show  do  a  series  of  9 
 block  parties  in  low-  income  neighborhoods.  Janine  Davis,  10 
 who  is  part  of  the  Breakfast  Brothas  Morning  Show,  and  yes,  11 
 there  is  a  lady  in  the  Breakfast  Brothas  Morning  Show,  she's  12 
 active  in  Girl  Talk  Foundation,  a  nonprofit  group  that  13 
 reaches  out  to  girls  in  schools  and  the  seminars  talk  about  14 
 abstinence  and  building  self-  esteem  and  image.  15 
 All  in  all,  in  conclusion  our  stations  would  not  16 
 be  where  they  are  without  our  African-  American  Communities.  17 
 We  do  countless  events  in  our  communities  on  a  daily  basis.  18 
 Thank  you.  19 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you  very  much.  Next  is  20 
 Mr.  Jim  Goodmon,  president  and  CEO  of  Capitol  Broadcasting.  21 
 Mr.  Goodmon.  22 
 MR.  GOODMON:  Thank  you.  I  want  to  --  don't  start  23 
 the  clock.  A  personal  privilege  here  for  thirty  seconds.  I  24 
 don't  like  rude.  And  I  think  the  person  who  spoke,  while  he  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  130 
 certainly  did  have  his  own  opinion,  was  rude  to  Tift,  and  I  1 
 don't  like  that.  2 
 I  don't  know  --  I  can't  find,  maybe  somebody  else  3 
 can,  anywhere  in  the  Communications  Act  that  it  says  that  4 
 we're  --  that  the  goal  for  capitalism  or  free  market  is  to  5 
 make  all  the  money  we  can.  I  can't  find  it.  The  only  thing  6 
 I  can  find  is  localism,  competition  and  diversity.  7 
 And  for  somebody  to  say  that  his  goal  is  to  try  to  8 
 keep  the  Viacom  stations  on  the  air,  that's  the  funniest  9 
 thing  I've  ever  heard.  Those  guys  are  doing  fifty  percent  10 
 profit  margins  and  are  doing  just  fine;  they're  the  biggest  11 
 company.  So  I  just  had  to  respond  to  that  and  start  the  12 
 clock.  13 
 (Applause.)  14 
 The  questions  --  your  guys,  Mr.  Chairman,  put  15 
 together  some  questions  that  we  should  think  about  for  the  16 
 hearing,  and  I  think  they  did  a  great  job.  They  really  did  17 
 a  good  job  and  I  want  to  speak  to  one  of  those  questions,  18 
 number  six.  19 
 What  if  anything  should  the  Commission  do  to  20 
 promote  localism?  Are  existing  market  incentives  sufficient  21 
 to  ensure  that  broadcasters  adequately  meet  the  needs  and  22 
 interests  of  their  communities?  23 
 Well,  in  responding  to  that  question  I  want  to  24 
 talk  about  the  two  rulemakings  that  you  all  have  before  you.  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  131 
 One  is  the  quarterly  reporting  rulemaking  and  the  other  is  1 
 the  minimum  public  interest  standard.  2 
 And  what  we  did  with  the  Gore  Commission,  quickly  3 
 is  everybody  agreed  --  everybody  in  this  room  agrees,  4 
 everybody  that  knows  agrees,  every  broadcaster  agrees  that  5 
 broadcasters  should  serve  the  public  interest.  6 
 The  Commission,  the  Gore  Commission  in  looking  at  7 
 that,  we  all  agreed  that  there  should  be  standards,  that  8 
 there  should  be  minimum  standards.  I  mean,  how  can  you  9 
 operate  without  standards?  Now,  we  couldn't  agree  on  what  10 
 the  standards  should  be,  but  we  agreed  that  there  should  be  11 
 minimum  public  interest  standards  and  we  proposed  some  very  12 
 broad  ones.  13 
 And  I  hope  you  all  looked  at  that  rulemaking  14 
 because  I  think  just  the  adoption  of  some  standards  will  get  15 
 us  all  thinking  about  it,  and  will  really  improve  localism.  16 
 The  second  thing  is  the  truth  is  that  we  all  need  17 
 to  sit  down  and  talk  about  this,  because  we  all  know  --  18 
 everybody  that  --  I'm  not  suggesting  that  broadcasters  serve  19 
 the  public  interest  or  don't  serve  it.  I'm  just  saying  that  20 
 there's  no  reporting  systems  that  anybody  knows.  In  21 
 particular,  the  public  doesn't  know.  22 
 So  that's  why  the  Gore  Commission  proposed  a  new  23 
 quarterly  reporting  form  that  would  give  some  more  24 
 information  to  the  public  about  how  the  station  is  doing.  I  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  132 
 am  --  you've  never  heard  me  say  that  and  you  won't,  that  I  1 
 think  our  stations  are  better  than  anybody's.  I'm  not  2 
 saying  good,  bad  or  indifferent.  I'm  saying  the  truth  is  we  3 
 don't  know.  4 
 There's  no  system  by  which  any  data  is  collected  5 
 to  set  any  sort  of  standards  in  terms  of  serving  the  public  6 
 interest.  And  I  hope  --  I've  read  these  --  I've  learned  7 
 some  --  I've  got  some  ideas  for  our  stations  today  from  this  8 
 hearing.  I  hope  these  hearings  don't  hold  up  those  9 
 rulemakings.  10 
 We've  got  to  get  the  minimum  public  interest  11 
 standards  done,  we've  got  to  get  rulemaking  done.  And,  Mr.  12 
 Chairman,  I  can't  ask  --  I  could,  but  I  can't  ask  you  for  13 
 must  carry  if  I'm  not  committed  to  serving  the  public  14 
 interest.  That's  why  I  get  it  and  you  won't  tell  me  what  it  15 
 is.  16 
 Now,  that's  an  oversimplification,  but  do  you  see  17 
 what  I  mean?  The  whole  idea  is  we're  supposed  to  serve  the  18 
 public  interest.  Tell  us  what  the  minimum  standards  are,  19 
 you  got  a  rulemaking,  tell  us  what  reporting  is,  you  got  a  20 
 rulemaking,  and  we  can  really  roll  and  really  get  into  a  21 
 discussion  about  what  all  this  is.  22 
 When  you  were  on  the  Commission  I  did  this,  so  23 
 this  Gore  Commission  was  five  years  ago.  But  I  think  this  24 
 makes  sense.  Minimum  standards  --  you  know,  show  me  an  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  133 
 industry  without  standards,  and  I'll  show  you  an  industry  1 
 without  standards.  I  mean,  I'm  not  saying  that  the  2 
 broadcasting  industry  is  bad.  I  think  there  are  great  3 
 broadcasters  and  I  think  they're  doing  a  good  job.  4 
 But  we  can't  have  this  discussion  in  terms  of  5 
 talking  about  how  good  we're  doing  if  there's  not  some  6 
 reference  point.  I  just  really  hope  that  we  can  get  to  7 
 those  two  rulemakings  soon.  Thank  you  very  much.  8 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Next  we  have  Ms.  Mary  Klenz,  Co-  9 
 president  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  of  North  Carolina.  10 
 Welcome.  11 
 MS.  KLENZ:  Welcome  to  Charlotte,  Commissioners,  12 
 and  Chairman  Powell.  I'm  also  the  past  president  of  the  13 
 Charlotte-  Mecklenburg  League  of  Women  Voters,  and  I  would  14 
 like  to  speak  tonight  to  you  about  some  of  the  concerns  that  15 
 my  organization  have.  16 
 The  League  of  Women  Voters  is  very  concerned  with  17 
 the  high  cost  of  election  campaigns,  which  is  directly  18 
 related  to  the  cost  of  TV  advertising,  and  also  concerned  19 
 with  the  decline  in  public  affairs  coverage  and  how  these  20 
 factors  relate  to  civic  participation,  like  running  for  21 
 office  and  voter  turn  out.  22 
 One  billion  dollars  was  spent  on  political  TV  23 
 advertising  in  the  2002  election.  That  was  25  percent  of  24 
 all  the  money  spent  in  all  the  campaigns.  Only  50  percent  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  134 
 of  eligible  North  Carolina  voters  turned  out  in  the  2000  1 
 election.  2 
 Meaningful  political  coverage  has  declined  over  3 
 the  last  thirty  years.  Citizens  get  a  majority  of  their  4 
 news  from  TV  and  radio,  and  that  main  source  of  information  5 
 is  available  only  through  political  ads.  That  really  does  6 
 our  democracy  a  disservice.  It  becomes  a  self-  perpetuating  7 
 spiral  downward.  Less  information,  less  voting,  less  8 
 information.  9 
 It  is  unfair  that  broadcasters  charge  such  high  10 
 prices  for  political  ads  the  closer  it  gets  to  election  day.  11 
 The  airwaves  belong  to  the  public.  They  use  them  at  no  12 
 charge  with  the  understanding  that  they  will  serve  the  13 
 public  good.  The  League  of  Women  Voters  believes  that  they  14 
 are  not  living  up  to  their  part  of  the  bargain.  15 
 Broadcasters  have  an  abundance  of  talent  and  16 
 creativity  at  their  disposal.  The  weather  is  interesting,  17 
 commercials  are  effective  in  getting  a  message  out,  and  they  18 
 make  outstanding  use  of  graphics,  color  and  design.  19 
 Why  can't  all  that  talent  be  directed  to  20 
 programming  that  informs  the  public  on  issues,  voting,  21 
 elections  and  who  is  running  for  office?  Let  me  cite  a  few  22 
 examples  of  how  effective  TV  can  be  when  it  becomes  involved  23 
 in  these  issues.  24 
 The  League  used  to  be  invited  to  answer  viewer  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  135 
 questions  on  local  TV  stations  during  election  time.  I  was  1 
 astonished  at  the  number  of  calls  we  received;  many  times  2 
 over  200  calls  within  a  two-  hour  period.  Without  exception  3 
 we  couldn't  begin  to  take  all  the  calls.  Regrettably  that  4 
 practice  was  discontinued.  5 
 WTVI  is  our  local  PBS  station  and  it  is  known  for  6 
 its  local  programming.  The  League  has  partnered  with  them  7 
 on  candidate  debates  for  elections  of  city  council,  mayor,  8 
 county  commission,  school  board  and  the  three  U.  S.  house  9 
 districts  represented  in  our  area.  10 
 I  don't  know  of  any  other  time  when  all  local  11 
 candidates  on  the  ballot  in  these  local  elections  answered  12 
 questions  before  an  area-  wide  TV  audience.  This  is  done  13 
 with  volunteers  working  with  WTVI  and  we  continue  to  receive  14 
 positive  feedback  from  both  voters  and  candidates.  15 
 We  are  concerned  that  business  concerns  seem  to  16 
 have  overtaken  --  seems  to  have  taken  precedence  over  the  17 
 public  interest.  You  Commissioners  have  the  job  of  figuring  18 
 out  how  to  balance  these  concerns  with  the  obligations  that  19 
 broadcasters  have  to  provide  meaningful  information  to  the  20 
 public  about  voting  and  elections.  From  everything  lay  21 
 members  report  to  us,  they  are  not  getting  that  now.  Thank  22 
 you.  23 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  Thank  you.  Mr.  Rustin,  the  24 
 Director  of  Government  Relations,  North  Carolina  Family  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  136 
 Policy  Council.  1 
 MR.  RUSTIN:  Thank  you,  Chairman  Powell  and  2 
 Commissioners  for  holding  these  hearings  and  for  providing  3 
 the  North  Carolina  Family  Policy  Council  the  opportunity  to  4 
 participate.  5 
 The  responsiveness  of  radio  and  television  6 
 broadcasters  to  the  needs  and  interests  of  local  communities  7 
 and  to  the  standards  that  define  these  communities  are  of  8 
 critical  importance  to  the  issue  of  localism.  9 
 While  families  across  North  Carolina  and  the  10 
 nation  have  an  ever-  increasing  number  of  radio  and  11 
 television  programming  options,  this  growth  in  choice  does  12 
 not  necessarily  translate  into  higher  levels  of  local  13 
 consumer  satisfaction.  In  fact,  we  are  hearing  more  14 
 concerns  from  both  parents  and  children  about  the  offensive  15 
 and  indecent  content  that  pervades  much  of  television  and  16 
 radio  programming  and  advertising  today.  17 
 The  growth  in  competition  for  market  share  appears  18 
 to  be  driving  many  to  continually  push  the  envelope  of  19 
 content  and  decency.  The  current  trend  toward  so-  called  20 
 reality  shows  is  a  prime  example.  Although  these  shows  may  21 
 not  rise  to  the  level  of  indecency,  they  are  designed  to  22 
 cater  to  the  base  interest  of  the  viewer.  23 
 In  North  Carolina  we  are  fortunate  to  have  the  24 
 leadership  of  individuals  like  Jim  Goodmon,  whose  CBS  and  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  137 
 Fox  affiliates  preempted  a  number  of  these  programs  because  1 
 they  demean  marriage  and  family  and  run  counter  to  local  2 
 community  standards.  If  these  stations  were  not  locally  3 
 owned  and  operated,  there  is  little  doubt  that  these  4 
 programs  would  have  been  aired  in  the  Raleigh-  Durham  area.  5 
 For  this  reason  the  North  Carolina  Family  Policy  6 
 Council  testified  at  an  FCC  field  hearing  on  media  7 
 concentration  in  March  in  opposition  to  the  proposed  8 
 increase  in  the  national  media  ownership  cap.  We  believe  9 
 that  a  station  owner  who  resides  in  his  or  her  own  local  10 
 community  is  more  likely  to  understand  and  respond  to  local  11 
 standards  than  someone  making  programming  decisions  from  12 
 hundreds  or  thousands  of  miles  away.  13 
 Even  communities  fortunate  enough  to  have  some  14 
 responsive  local  broadcasters  are  still  often  overwhelmed  by  15 
 indecent  radio  and  television  content.  Consumers  must  have  16 
 a  reliable  system  to  address  offensive  and  indecent  17 
 programming.  18 
 Because  the  viewing  and  listening  public  bears  the  19 
 burden  to  prove  the  content  and  the  context  of  reported  20 
 indecency,  requiring  local  broadcasters  to  maintain  and  make  21 
 available  several  months  of  programming  tapes  or  22 
 transcripts,  would  aid  citizens  in  their  efforts  to  ensure  23 
 that  community  standards  are  being  upheld.  24 
 In  addition,  consumers  rely  upon  the  FCC  to  ensure  25 
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 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  138 
 that  broadcasters  are  truly  serving  the  public  interest.  1 
 Strict  enforcement  of  indecency  and  obscenity  laws  and  2 
 regulations  are  critical.  We  thank  the  FCC,  for  example,  3 
 for  its  recent  action  regarding  indecent  content  on  the  Opie  4 
 and  Anthony  Show.  5 
 However,  more  swift  and  consistent  enforcement  6 
 action,  including  higher-  level  fines  and  the  initiation  of  7 
 license  revocation  hearings,  especially  for  repeat  8 
 offenders,  would  instill  a  higher  level  of  public  9 
 confidence.  10 
 Localism  at  its  core  requires  the  involvement  of  11 
 the  local  citizens.  Providing  a  system  of  local  programming  12 
 that  is  respectful  of  community  standards,  as  well  as  a  13 
 realistic  and  responsive  enforcement  mechanism  for  14 
 addressing  indecency  violations,  will  encourage  citizens  to  15 
 become  more  involved  in  local  broadcasting  and  will  help  to  16 
 ensure  the  quality  programming  we  all  desire.  Thank  you.  17 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  And  finally  Mr.  Michael  Ward,  18 
 General  Manager  of  WNCN-  TV.  19 
 MR.  WARD:  Good  evening,  Mr.  Chairman,  20 
 Commissioners,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Representative  Price  21 
 and  Representative  Watt.  My  name  is  Michael  Ward.  I'm  the  22 
 general  manager  of  WNCN-  TV,  the  NBC  owned  and  operated  23 
 television  station  in  Raleigh,  Durham.  That's  right;  I'm  24 
 one  of  the  big  guys  that  everybody  has  spoken  unfortunately  25 
138
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  139 
 about  so  badly  about  this  evening.  1 
 I've  spent  more  than  a  quarter  century  working  in  2 
 television,  starting  out  in  my  home  state  of  South  Dakota  as  3 
 a  photographer  to  my  current  position  here  as  a  key  4 
 decision-  maker  for  NBC  and  its  operation  of  its  television  5 
 station  in  the  Raleigh-  Durham  market.  6 
 Across  that  career  I've  worked  many  jobs  at  many  7 
 television  stations  and  many  different  --  and  for  many  8 
 different  kinds  of  owners,  and  I've  learned  one  thing  is  9 
 true  about  TV.  Successful  television  stations,  regardless  10 
 of  who  they're  owned  by,  regardless  of  the  money  behind  them  11 
 or  the  lack  of  money  behind  them,  are  successful  for  three  12 
 reasons:  local  involvement,  local  relevance  and  local  13 
 acceptance.  14 
 It  doesn't  matter  where  they  go  or  whence  they  15 
 came  from.  Without  those  three  things  embraced  by  the  16 
 television  station,  the  station  will  die.  17 
 The  recent  ownership  of  our  station  is  a  good  18 
 example.  Almost  seven  years  ago  WNCN  was  owned  by  a  company  19 
 that  provided  paid  programming,  religious  programming  and  20 
 home  shopping  as  it  filled  its  air  for  its  viewers.  Since  21 
 NBC  purchased  the  television  station  almost  seven  years  ago  22 
 now,  that  low-  cost  cutting  program  strategy  that  did  not  23 
 work  has  been  replaced  by  a  television  station  committed  to  24 
 local  relevance,  local  involvement  and  a  gain  of  local  25 
139
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  140 
 acceptance.  1 
 A  few  of  the  things  that  we've  done  during  that  2 
 time,  of  course,  is  add  about  sixty  percent  more  local  news  3 
 than  was  available  before  we  came.  We've  added  a  half  hour  4 
 public  relations  or  public  affairs  shows.  We've  set  a  set  5 
 standard  of  public  affairs  announcements,  public  service  6 
 announcements  on  our  air.  7 
 We've  produced  a  number  of  programs  for  various  8 
 charitable  and  service  organizations  across  the  state.  We  9 
 produce  an  annual  show  for  the  NAACP;  we  produce  an  annual  10 
 live  ecumenical  church  service  from  downtown  Raleigh  on  11 
 Easter  morning.  We  produce  a  weekly  half  hour  local  artist-  12 
 oriented  music  show  featuring  club  artists  in  Chapel  Hill,  13 
 Durham  and  Raleigh.  14 
 We  broadcast  countless  specials,  we  provide  15 
 realtime  closed  captioning  of  every  special  news  event  that  16 
 we  do,  and  most  recently  preempted  prime  time  programming  17 
 for  two  live  mayoral  debates  for  the  local  mayoral  race  of  18 
 interest  in  our  market.  19 
 We  produce  healthcare,  blood  drives,  breast  cancer  20 
 research  drives  and  on  and  on  and  on.  But  perhaps  most  21 
 importantly  we  require  that  every  one  of  our  department  22 
 heads  and  employees  participates  actively  on  a  church  board,  23 
 a  local  service  board,  charitable  institution  board,  because  24 
 it's  their  personal  conduit  to  our  community  that  counts  the  25 
140
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  141 
 most  in  the  actions  that  we  take.  1 
 What's  happened  because  of  this?  We're  doing  a  2 
 lot  better  businesswise.  And  the  reason  I  come  to  speak  to  3 
 you  tonight  is  to  tell  you  that  local  service  is  good  4 
 business.  It's  practiced  by  most  all,  if  not  every  single  5 
 broadcaster  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina  associated  with  6 
 the  State's  Broadcaster's  Association,  it's  practiced  by  NBC  7 
 and  its  owned  and  operated  television  stations,  both  English  8 
 language  and  Spanish  language.  9 
 Commissioners  and  Mr.  Chairman,  I'm  proud  to  tell  10 
 you  that  the  rules  as  they  exist  right  now  for  the  support  11 
 and  development  of  localism  work  and  we're  a  shining  example  12 
 of  the  reason  why.  13 
 Thank  you  for  your  time  and  I  welcome  your  14 
 questions.  15 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I'm  going  to  tell  you,  the  hour  16 
 has  gotten  late  and  we've  cut  into  the  questions  because  of  17 
 extending  the  open  mike.  I  will  present  one  and  I  think  18 
 we're  going  to  wrap  it  up  and  let  anyone  who  wants  to  speak  19 
 with  Commissioner  Copps  of  our  staff,  do  so.  I'm  just  going  20 
 to  direct  this  to  Mr.  Goodmon.  21 
 I  found  it  interesting  I  got  an  E-  mail  from  a  22 
 member  of  this  Charlotte  community.  He  says  he  wants  to  23 
 register  a  complaint,  and  I  don't  know  if  this  is  your  24 
 station,  WBTV,  Channel  3  Charlotte.  25 
141
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  142 
 This  station  is  constantly  preempting  regular  CBS  1 
 programming  for  local  broadcasts  such  as  St.  Jude's.  So  far  2 
 this  year  they've  preempted  programming  three  times,  then  3 
 they  put  the  regular  programming  on  at  2:  30  in  the  morning.  4 
 I  hate  this.  5 
 I'm  missing  the  ACC  basketball,  which  is  like  6 
 religion  here.  7 
 (Laughter.)  8 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  guess  that  raises  a  question  9 
 that  preemption  is  an  important  part  of  local  programming,  10 
 but  the  consumers  also  have  a  desire  to  see  some  of  the  11 
 programming  that  comes  from  the  national  audience  and  is  12 
 important  to  them  as  well.  13 
 Can  you  tell  us  a  little  bit  about  the  thought  14 
 process  of  when  to  preempt  and  when  you  represent  the  view  15 
 of  the  community  and  how  you  do  that?  16 
 MR.  GOODMON:  We're  not  WBT.  17 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  didn't  think  so.  18 
 MR.  GOODMON:  I  wish  we  were.  19 
 (Laughter.)  20 
 MR.  GOODMON:  No,  I  don't.  But  it's  interesting;  21 
 in  Raleigh  we  are  a  CBS  affiliate  and  we  have  ACC  basketball  22 
 and  we're  sort  of  in  a  duplicate  situation.  I  haven't  found  23 
 that  --  I  mean,  our  preemption  pattern  is  such  that  the  24 
 community  is  used  to  it.  That  is,  they  know  we're  going  to  25 
142
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  143 
 do  ACC  basketball.  They're  used  to  our  preempting  for  1 
 specials  every  now  and  then  and  they  are  also  used  to  how  we  2 
 handle  it,  which  is  we  run  it  later  at  night.  3 
 Obviously  there's  some  fans  of  a  weekly  show  that  4 
 are  disappointed  when  we  preempt  it  for  basketball,  but  I  5 
 really  believe  our  preemptions  are  so  predictable  as  WBT's  6 
 that  it's  not  a  problem.  7 
 Digital  is  going  to  help  this  a  lot.  For  example,  8 
 we  can  run  a  couple  of  things.  We  can  do  basketball  and  CBS  9 
 on  digital,  and  moving  into  digital  is  going  to  help  us  in  a  10 
 lot  of  these  areas.  11 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Can  I  ask  a  quick  question  on  12 
 preemption  while  we're  on  the  subject,  because  this  goes  13 
 more  to  community  values  and  local  values  and  I'm  interested  14 
 --  15 
 CHAIRMAN  POWELL:  I  don't  mean  to  cut  you  off,  16 
 Commissioner.  I  just  want  to  --  I  also  have  to  catch  a  17 
 plane  regrettably,  and  I  just  wanted  to  let  you  finish  your  18 
 question,  but  to  take  the  opportunity  to  thank  the  people  of  19 
 Charlotte.  20 
 I  found  this  a  useful  and  important  and  meaningful  21 
 hearing.  I  appreciate  your  patience,  I  appreciate  your  22 
 commitment,  and  I  really  think  it's  been  a  very  valuable  23 
 exercise.  24 
 On  behalf  of  myself  and  the  staff  at  the  Federal  25 
143
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  144 
 Communications  Commission,  I  applaud  you  and  thank  you  for  1 
 your  efforts  and  enjoyed  your  hospitality.  Thank  you  very  2 
 much.  3 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  I'm  interested  in  kind  of  the  4 
 decision-  making  process.  I  know,  Mr.  Ward,  you  run  an  5 
 owned-  and-  operated  station.  How  many  programs  have  you  6 
 preempted  in  the  period  of  the  last  year  because  of  your  7 
 feeling  that  perhaps  they  were  contrary  to  the  values  and  8 
 sensibilities  of  your  community?  9 
 MR.  WARD:  I  have  not  preempted  based  on  my  10 
 sensibilities  of  the  community  and  its  values.  We've  11 
 preempted  for  news  specials,  we've  preempted  for  local  12 
 events  that  we  felt  overrode  the  importance  of  what  the  13 
 network  offered  or  the  other  programming  we  had  available.  14 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Let  me  ask  Mr.  Goodmon  that.  Have  15 
 you  felt  the  need  to  overrule  what  the  network  fare  was  for  16 
 your  community?  17 
 MR.  GOODMON:  Yeah,  we  --  yes,  sir,  and  it  had  --  18 
 yes;  the  answer  is  yes.  I  mean,  we  just  decided  rightly  or  19 
 wrongly,  just  we  decided  that  we're  not  going  to  make  fun  of  20 
 marriage.  And  we  can't  clean  up  television;  there's  all  21 
 kind  of  violent  stuff  all  over  television,  and  we  just  said  22 
 there's  a  line  here  and  if  people  are  going  to  meet  each  23 
 other,  then  get  married  ten  minutes  later  and  fly  off  24 
 together,  and  we're  not  going  to  do  that.  25 
144
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  145 
 And  we  just  did  that  and  I  appreciate  people  1 
 thanking  us,  but  I  don't  --  we're  not  right  or  wrong  or  2 
 anything.  It's  just  a  decision  that  we  made.  I  think,  you  3 
 know,  we  have  a  problem  that  the  network  will  not  give  us  4 
 the  material  ahead  of  time,  so  we  have  to  go  on  what  we  hear  5 
 about  the  program,  we  talk  to  the  network  about  it,  what  we  6 
 read  about  it  in  the  press.  Sometimes  we  can  get  a  pre-  7 
 feed,  but  on  reality  programs  we  can't.  So  just  on  the  8 
 marriage  thing  we  said  no  deal.  9 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Let  me  ask  you  a  general  10 
 question,  and  if  anybody  else  wants  to  comment  on  it  perhaps  11 
 they  could.  12 
 But  kind  of  the  message  I  take  from  this  meeting  13 
 tonight  is  people  in  this  community  impart  great  value  to  14 
 localism,  and  I  think  they're  proud  and  congratulatory  of  15 
 those  broadcast  outlets  who  are  nurturing  and  nourishing  16 
 localism.  And  I  take  away  an  equally  strong  feeling  that  17 
 people  are,  by  and  large,  alarmed  that  there  are  serious  18 
 threats  to  localism.  19 
 And  as  we  wind  this  hearing  up,  I'm  just  trying  to  20 
 get  clear  in  my  own  mind,  how  do  you  start  to  get  at  21 
 something  like  this?  Some  say  that,  you  know,  we  shouldn't  22 
 be  talking  too  much  about  structural  rules,  maybe  these  23 
 ownership  rules.  24 
 But  what  I'm  hearing  in  this  audience  is  a  lot  of  25 
145
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  146 
 people  are  saying  that  structural  rules  and  loosening  the  1 
 ownership  cap  that  the  Commission  voted  may  be  pernicious  to  2 
 the  cause  of  localism.  Others  say  that  no,  that's  a  3 
 cumbersome  way  to  go  about  spurring  the  public  interest  and  4 
 encouraging  the  public  interest  and  that  there  are  some  5 
 sorts  of  behavioral  rules  as  a  whole  menu  of  those.  6 
 Is  there  some  kind  of  silver  bullet  here  or  are  we  7 
 looking  at  really  a  mix  whereby  we  have  to  address  --  if  8 
 you're  going  to  talk  intelligently  about  localism,  we  have  9 
 to  address  not  just  the  behavioral  rules,  the  licensing  10 
 renewal  and  all  that,  but  also  be  cognizant  of  the  lingering  11 
 effects  of  those  structural  decisions.  12 
 Let  me  ask  Jim  to  start  with  that  and  anybody  else  13 
 that  wants  to  comment.  14 
 MR.  GOODMON:  Right.  I  think  it's  a  mix.  I  mean,  15 
 we  have  multiple  ownership  and  in  many  cases  it's  working  16 
 fine.  I  mean,  what  we're  talking  about  is  you  all  just  17 
 passed  a  rule  that  one  company  can  own  370  television  18 
 stations.  19 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Don't  say  you  all  because  I  20 
 wasn't  a  part  of  that.  21 
 (Laughter.)  22 
 MR.  GOODMON:  I  mean,  I'll  tell  you,  we've  got  a  23 
 great  group  of  owners.  The  question  is  what  is  the  --  how  24 
 far  do  we  go  with  this.  And  I  think  most  people  think  we've  25 
146
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  147 
 gone  about  far  enough.  1 
 I  would  say  that  the  single  most  important  2 
 determinant  of  how  a  station  operates  is  who  owns  it.  I  3 
 mean,  it  ought  to  be.  Now,  you  can  have  all  the  rules  you  4 
 want  to  about  what  your  stations  are  supposed  to  do,  but,  5 
 you  know,  the  stations  reflect  the  owner.  6 
 And  the  larger  the  owner  gets  by  definition,  just  7 
 by  definition,  the  more  the  corporate  welfare  --  the  larger  8 
 it  gets,  the  more  the  corporate  welfare  drives  the  bottom  9 
 line,  which  means  by  definition  there'll  be  less  attention  10 
 to  localism.  By  definition.  I  mean,  that's  just  an  11 
 economic  definition.  12 
 I  don't  think  Jim  --  I  don't  think  the  groups  are  13 
 too  big  now.  I  think  we've  got  a  good  --  I  don't  think  14 
 anybody's  saying  we  should  go  back.  I  think  all  we're  15 
 talking  about  is  how  far  we  want  to  go.  But  I  think  there  -  16 
 -  the  answer  to  your  question  is  both;  I  think  we  should  17 
 have  both.  18 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  Does  anyone  else  care  to  19 
 comment?  20 
 MR.  KEELOR:  Well,  I  agree  with  Jim;  I  think  the  21 
 ownership  makes  the  difference.  And  again,  speaking  only  22 
 for  our  company  and  I'll  give  a  personal  opinion  here  that  23 
 some  broadcasters  would  disagree  with,  but  I  don't  think  24 
 there's  --  every  acquisition  we've  made  in  the  last  three  25 
147
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  148 
 years  has  been  a  private  owner.  1 
 And  we  have  immediately  taken  a  profit  loss  in  2 
 that  acquisition  because  of  the  cost  of  a  benefits  plan,  3 
 because  of  the  way  you  wanted  to  outfit  the  station,  and  the  4 
 way  we  wanted  them  to  serve  the  community.  5 
 But  we  took  that  step  back  knowing  when  we  made  6 
 those  investments,  three  to  five  years  from  now  we  would  be  7 
 ahead  of  the  game  and  we  were  willing  to  do  it.  Clearly  not  8 
 a  lot  of  companies  can  do  that.  We're  in  an  unusual  9 
 position.  10 
 But  the  statement  that  I  would  make  is  that  I  11 
 think  I  would  be  willing  to  accept  additional  public  defined  12 
 interest  standards  if  I  were  allowed  to  own  two  television  13 
 stations  in  the  same  market.  And  I  know  Commissioner  Copps  14 
 does  not  favor  that  position,  but  let  me  tell  you  folks,  a  15 
 lot  of  these  complaints  about  radio,  half  the  radio  stations  16 
 mentioned  wouldn't  be  on  the  air  today  had  consolidation  not  17 
 happened,  and  radio  business  was  out  of  the  business  in  a  18 
 period,  dead  air.  Consolidation  saved  it.  19 
 Now,  some  of  the  things  you've  heard  we  don't  20 
 like;  I  agree  with  that.  The  point  is  in  some  television  21 
 markets  that's  going  to  happen  if  we  don't  allow  22 
 consolidation.  We  need  to  allow  consolidation;  it  needs  to  23 
 be  with  the  right  owners  who  are  willing  to  make  the  right  24 
 commitments.  25 
148
 Broadcast  Localism  Hearing  149 
 But  I  have  to  tell  you,  I  can  wake  up  tomorrow  1 
 morning  and  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina  where  we  have  had  2 
 the  number  one  station  for  fifty  years,  and  I'm  really  proud  3 
 of  what  they  do,  we  are  being  penalized  because  under  the  4 
 new  rules,  the  newspaper  can  buy  up  a  second  television  5 
 station  in  the  market  tomorrow  morning,  the  cable  system  can  6 
 buy  up  a  third,  the  radio  group  in  there  can  buy  the  fourth,  7 
 and  because  I'm  the  leading  station,  I  can't  buy  anything.  8 
 Show  me  the  balance  and  the  fairness  and  the  9 
 equity  of  that.  That  we  have  now  been  penalized  under  the  10 
 rules  for  being  the  number  one  station  and  serving  our  11 
 community.  That  cannot  stand  and  that's  why  we're  12 
 supporting  the  court  action  against  it.  13 
 But  I  would  support  public  interest  standards  of  a  14 
 defined  basis  in  order  to  do  --  into  the  middle  and  small  15 
 sized  markets.  That's  my  position,  not  maybe  my  company's  16 
 position.  It  certainly  isn't  probably  any  of  these  17 
 positions  or  anybody  else's.  18 
 But  I  agree  with  Jim;  ownership  makes  all  the  19 
 difference  in  the  world.  And  one  of  the  toughest  things  20 
 that's  happened  is  when  the  FCC  changed  the  rules  that  21 
 allowed  the  financial  players  to  get  into  the  business,  and  22 
 in  three  years  turn  them  around  and  cut  them  to  pieces,  then  23 
 sell  them  again  to  somebody  else.  And  there's  a  whole  wave  24 
 of  money  out  there  waiting  to  do  the  same  damn  thing  because  25 
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 they've  called  us.  1 
 So,  I  mean,  if  I  were  to  ask  the  Commission  do  2 
 anything,  it's  to  look  at  the  responsibility  of  what  an  3 
 owner  has  to  do,  what  he  has  to  do  to  invest  in  a  station,  4 
 and  how  long  he  has  to  keep  it.  5 
 COMMISSIONER  COPPS:  And  I  think  that  point  about  6 
 public  interest  standards  and  DT  broadcasters  are  so  7 
 integral.  And  to  his  credit,  the  Chairman  has  done  a  8 
 masterful  job  in  trying  to  encourage  the  digital  television  9 
 transition,  and  getting  the  mechanics  of  that  straightened  10 
 away  and  commitments  from  the  broadcasters  and  cable  and  11 
 everybody.  12 
 But  here  is  this  gaping  hole  that  you've  talked  13 
 about,  the  central  overriding  question,  how  is  the  ability  14 
 to  multicast  going  to  be  used  to  benefit  the  public  15 
 interest;  and  we  have  not  done  justice  to  that.  I  think  we  16 
 are  going  to  get  it  teed  up,  I  hope  we  can  get  it  teed  up  17 
 because  there's  nothing  more  important  we  have  do.  18 
 I  am  certainly  willing  to  stay  around  here  and  19 
 perhaps  some  of  the  panelists  are  too,  but  I  know  some  of  us  20 
 have  to  get  home  and  they  have  commitments.  21 
 On  behalf  of  Chairman  Powell  and  Commissioner  22 
 Adelstein  and  myself,  I  want  to  thank  everybody  who  has  been  23 
 a  part  of  this  hearing  and  the  panel.  This  has  been  very  24 
 helpful  I  think  to  the  Commission  and  we  look  forward  to  25 
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 doing  other  hearings  around  the  country.  1 
 So  thank  you,  Charlotte,  and  thank  you,  North  2 
 Carolina,  for  helping  us.  3 
 (WHEREUPON,  the  hearing  was  concluded  at  9:  04  P.  4 
 M.)  5 
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 1 
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 3  STATE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA  ) 
 )  C  E  R  T  I  F  I  C  A  T  E  COUNTY  OF  MECKLENBURG  ) 


 I,  JoAnn  M.  Harris,  Official  Court  Reporter,  do 
 hereby  certify  that  the  aforesaid  proceeding  was  taken  and 
 transcribed  by  me,  and  that  the  foregoing  one  hundred-  fifty 
 (150)  pages  constitute  a  verbatim  transcription  of  the 
 testimony  of  the  foregoing  proceeding.  I  do  further  certify 
 that  the  persons  were  present  as  stated. 
 I  do  further  certify  that  I  am  not  of  counsel  for 
 or  in  the  employment  of  any  of  the  parties  to  this  action, 
 nor  do  I  have  any  interest  in  the  result  thereof. 
 IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my 
 name,  this  7th  day  of  November,  2003. 


 JoAnn  M.  Harris  Official  Court  Reporter 
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