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Michael Powell out

24 comments on Michael Powell out

Michael Powell out

: Michael Powell is resigning as FCC chairman.

I fear that the future will be only worse. As critical as I have been — justifiably — of Powell, I know that in his soul of souls, Powell understands the value of the First Amendment. His successor may not. I fear that the White House and Congress — from, yes, both parties — will only amplify the looney voice of a few who would continue to limit our free speech on our airwaves.

Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s assessment of his tenure.

: I just did a quickie interview on ABC Radio New on Powell.

: Just got email from Jon Bonne at MSNBCi (four chairs to my left):

isn’t it amazing that the Powell news broke on the WSJ ed page? the WSJ ed page folks are certainly intrepid journalists in their own right, but i interpret this as a signal from the Bush corps that breaking news can easily be routed around the newsroom and straight to their fellow ideological counterparts. not quite as much as breaking it on a blog, but this has a very different (though not entirely so) resonance as the Juanita Broaddrick episode.

24 responses to “Michael Powell out”

  1. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Any speculation on possible appointees?

  2. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    The WSJ speculates as follows:

    This brings us to the matter of potential replacements for the Chairman at the five-member agency, and whether President Bush will squander an opportunity to start taking telecom more seriously. The White House decision last month to renominate Democratic Commissioner and Tom Daschle-protege Jonathan Adelstein was not a good start, to say the least, since he and fellow Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps are reliable opponents of genuine competition.
    Mr. Martin is gunning for Chairmanship, but his decision in the unbundling fight to put personal ambition above good policy split the Commission and helped extend the telecom depression. The last thing Mr. Bush should want is to repeat the mistake of putting Republicans in a de facto minority position at the agency. The next Chairman not only needs Mr. Powell’s instincts and vision but also a Commission that will follow his lead.
    Other names mentioned for the post include Becky Klein, a former head of the Texas Public Utility Commission; Michael Gallagher of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and Janice Obuchowski, a telecom consultant who served in the Commerce Department under Mr. Bush’s father. Someone like former Interstate Commerce Commission Chairman Darius Gaskins or former Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jim Miller also would be an excellent choice to keep the FCC on a deregulatory path.

  3. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    Sorry… “Mr. Martin,” referred to in the excerpt above, is FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin.

  4. Michael Zimmer Avatar
    Michael Zimmer

    WJS said: “The White House decision last month to renominate Democratic Commissioner and Tom Daschle-protege Jonathan Adelstein was not a good start, to say the least, since he and fellow Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps are reliable opponents of genuine competition.”
    I guess we know where their bias is.

  5. Mumblix Grumph Avatar
    Mumblix Grumph

    Ya know, Jeff, as soon as I saw the headline I came straight over here…and sure enough, you’re already on the job.
    Tell me what newspaper can match that and I’ll subscribe to it.

  6. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    Michael, the WSJ article is an opinion piece, not a news story, and the excerpt provided was in the context of whether the FCC would address the issue of providing a more competitive environment in the telecom industry.
    That said, they are *clearly* biased in favor of a more laissez-faire approach and make no apologies for it.

  7. Ry Jones Avatar
    Ry Jones

    I’m in the same boat as Mumblix – I thought, “woo hoo maybe I can scoop Jarvis” – fat chance!

  8. John Avatar
    John

    Of course, it would be kind of funny if Powell was resigning as FCC chair to take an executive position at Sirius…

  9. HH Avatar
    HH

    XM has signed up washed-up conservative hosts Dr. Laura and G. Gordon Liddy… wonder what Stern thinks of that.

  10. Glyn Avatar
    Glyn

    ” Michael Powell is resigning as FCC chairman. I fear that the future will be only worse.”
    Ehh?? You mean you never wanted him to resign? Ive thought at various times you’ve wanted him sued, arraigned in a court of law and hanged drawn and quartered (I wish I could remember your choicer invective about him). Is this your version of not speaking ill of the dead?
    As to who should take over the FCC, surely you’re being too modest.

  11. tony Avatar
    tony

    how could it be worse? oprah doesnt get fined and howard does. is it worse when oprah also gets fined?
    i dont think so.

  12. scottie Avatar
    scottie

    First Ammendment damage? Isn’t that a bit overdramatic? Isn’t that actual not very factual at all?
    How can enforcing decency on the airwaves be an assault on the first ammendment? If you say that restrictions on indencency are an assault on the first ammendment, then lets just let full-on, hard-core porno’s play on Saturday morning. Obviously, there has to be a certain level of decency, and the first ammendment is mostly about political speech, not about the ability to broadcast porn on Channel 5.
    The broadcast channels are public property, and there should be a level of decency on them. If someone has an artistic expression outside of the normal boundries of decency, they should make a film or publication and sell in a private forum. The FCC can’t do anything about that.
    I just personally don’t know of anyone having their First Ammendment right squashed by the FCC. If someone can cite a case of that happening, I would surely like to hear about it.

  13. Lex Avatar
    Lex

    Don’t get out much, do you, Scottie?
    And it’s all well and good for the WSJ editorial page to cry out for more competition, but you need to understand that that’s not what they really want. If they did, they wouldn’t be allowing these megamergers of communications conglomerates that actually REDUCE competition.
    When I started watching TV in the ’60s, there were three channels. Now, there are hundreds of cable channels … almost all owned by one of a half-dozen companies. This is an improvement only on the surface.

  14. Jerry Avatar
    Jerry

    Try Brinkley v. Federal Radio Commission. But the FCC is a lot smarter than the FRC was. Try NBC v. United States, or the cases of KGEF or Faith Center, or Red Lion. These cases all technically turned on minutiae or on NBC doing what Clear Channel and Infinity are now praised for.
    Licenses revoked for tangential reasons like Bob Shuler actually owning the station when Lizzie Glide gave the money to Trinity Methodist Church, South in KGEF is like a cop pulling a sober man over for weaving so he can be ticketed for not wearing a seat belt. Isn’t it interesting that all these folks were roundly critical of the government at the time they committed these unpardonable minor transgressions?

  15. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    Don’t celebrate yet. This may turn out badly.
    Mr. Falwell, is in need of a job since he’s currently doing editorals. He also has versed himself in a law school. Watch out Jeff.

  16. Glyn Avatar
    Glyn

    I see that Paul McCartney has been chosen to play at the Super Bowl because all viewpoints “consider him 100% uncontroversial” – isn’t that about one of the worst things you could say about any ageing rock god? I just hope he rips his own shirt off halfway through the performance, that’s all.

  17. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    Amanda, consider these:
    Paul Crouch, maybe.
    It will be someone from the religious right, since they worked so hard to get Bush re-elected.
    Then again, it might well be Bozell III

  18. Jim Treacher Avatar
    Jim Treacher

    “I just hope he rips his own shirt off halfway through the performance, that’s all.”
    At least Janet only flashed her boob. Guess they never heard about this one…

  19. AEB Avatar
    AEB

    Michael Copps would be MUCH, MUCH worse. Look up quotes he has said – I think he wanted to enforce regulations against cable and satellite.

  20. edicius Avatar
    edicius

    Was reading one of the articles on Powell’s resignation and one quote stood out…
    “I’m a big believer in the First Amendment, but often I’m incredibly uneasy about lines we have to draw. No one takes pleasure in trying to decide whether this potty-mouth word or that potty-mouth word is a violation of the law.”
    “Potty-mouth word”? This is a grown man speaking these words. Obscenity, profanity…those words fit…but “potty-mouth word”? Yeesh.

  21. AEB Avatar
    AEB

    In terms of Copps, here is what he said in March 2004…
    http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-245610A1.pdf
    Quote:
    Successful resolution of the indecency issues must in the end include cable and satellite. Eighty-five percent of homes get their television signals from cable or satellite. Most viewers, particularly children, don

  22. Richard Bennett Avatar
    Richard Bennett

    I’m shocked, Jeff. I expected you to be singing and dancing all day at this news, but you’re all somber and even kinda depressed.
    Is it sad for you to lose a good adversary?

  23. PSGInfinity Avatar
    PSGInfinity

    I’ve long felt that the First Amendment thing was a Trojan Horse on the part of Big Media. Consider it from GM’s point of view: How would you duck behind an Iwo Jima-esque defensive wall, obliterating all but the most cursory restrictions on your product, but still get to treat what you sell as product in every other way?
    I can think of at least two examples where speech goes over the line, and becomes merely a ‘sold product’, no different from pencils. If ‘speech’ has been focus – grouped, it’s PRODUCT, not speech. If tie-in products are sold, it’s PRODUCT, not speech.
    Focus matters, too. If your focus is news and/or opinion, you are much less likeley to simply be selling pencils than if you’e also selling “Jackass”. Size matters, too. The bigger you are, the more apt the ‘speech’ is really going to be ‘product’ rather than speech.
    …But what of the novelist, you ask? The playwright, moviemaker, or sitcom “company”? Damn good questions, all. Raising the issue is still important, because curbing obvious abuses by multinational corporations can mitigate potential backlash that these folks will inevitably produce…

  24. Bill Avatar
    Bill

    Do you want your TV watching kids talking like Colin “Fookin’” Farrell or what? It’s a trade off.