Mods, feel free to substitute this public domain document for the lead article.
http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsCenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1523SENATOR MCCAIN INTRODUCES BROADCASTING REFORM LEGISLATION
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) delivered the following remarks at a press conference held today to announce the findings of a study on broadcasters’ coverage of the 2004 election cycle and to announce the introduction of “Localism in Broadcasting Reform Act of 2005”:
“Thank you, Dean Kaplan for your work analyzing another year’s local news coverage of local elections. It is incredible that since you began studying local news coverage in 1988, broadcasters have yet to show marked improvement.
“One of the most startling statistics from the study is the ratio of political advertisements to candidate news stories aired during a half-hour news cast. Reduced news coverage led candidates to spend over $1.6 billion on television ads in 2004 to introduce themselves to voters, double the amount spent in 2000.
“Another interesting finding was that eight times more news coverage went to stories about accidental injuries than local elections. From what I can gather, if a local candidate wants to be on television, and cannot afford to advertise, his only hope may be to have a freak accident.
“Last summer, after hearing similar data, FCC Chairman Michael Powell and I challenged all local broadcast television and radio stations to provide their local communities with significant information on the local political issues facing communities, the local candidates’ campaign platforms, and the local candidate debates during the 2004 election.
“In response to the challenge, many broadcasters sent volumes of material detailing their extensive election coverage and committing to increase their coverage in 2004. To those broadcasters, thank you for serving your viewers.
“To those broadcasters whose dismal performance is captured in this study or whose performance was as dismal as the broadcasters in the study, I question how you are meeting your obligation to use the Nation’s spectrum to serve the “public interest.”
“Therefore, I feel it is now time to introduce legislation to bring local back into local broadcasting. Later today, I will introduce the “Localism in Broadcasting Reform Act of 2005,” which would reduce the license term for broadcasters from eight years to three years, thereby requiring broadcasters to provide the FCC with information every three years on why their license should be renewed.
“Additionally, the bill would require the full Commission to review five percent of all license and renewal applications, and would command broadcasters to post on their Internet sites information detailing their commitment to local public affairs programming. The bill also calls for the FCC to complete its open proceeding on whether public interest obligations should apply to broadcasters in the digital era.
“I believe this legislation is a step in the right direction. It will have a small impact on those stations that are currently meeting their public interest obligations, but it should have a large impact on those citizens whose local broadcaster is not meeting its obligation to serve the local community. I refuse to believe that the “public interest” is served by three minutes of campaign coverage and a 12 second sound bite from a candidate during a half-hour local news program. Citizens deserve more from their local broadcaster.”