NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C.  20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
October 5, 2007 Office of Inspector General 
Email: Carla.Conover@fcc.gov
INSPECTOR GENERAL RELEASES REPORT ON INVESTIGATION INTO 
ALLEGATIONS RESEARCH WORK WAS SUPPRESSED OR DESTROYED
Washington, D.C. – The Inspector General of the Federal Communications Commission
has released a report finding that the evidence did not substantiate allegations that two draft 
research reports of staff economists in the Commission’s Media Bureau had been suppressed by 
senior managers at the Commission or that senior managers had ordered one of the reports to be 
destroyed.  The investigation was directed by Carla Conover, Deputy Assistant Inspector General 
for Investigations.  
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin asked the Inspector General to look into these matters on 
September 18, 2006.   Senators Barbara Boxer, Byron Dorgan and Ron Wyden, as well as 
Members of Congress also urged the Inspector General to undertake the thorough investigation 
requested by Chairman Martin.  In addition, the Senators asked the Inspector General to 
investigate whether it was, or had been, a pattern or practice of anyone in senior Commission 
management to suppress similar information.  Based on the extensive and wide-ranging 
investigation conducted by Ms. Conover and her colleagues, the Inspector General found no 
evidence that there had ever been a pattern or practice of suppressing research at the 
Commission.
The draft papers that were the subject of the allegations were titled “Do Local Owners 
Deliver More Localism” and “Review of the Radio Industry, 2003” and were made available on 
the Commission’s website, along with other material collected in response to a related FOIA 
request, during December 2006.
The Inspector General’s report of investigation on this matter can be found at 
www.fcc.gov.
-FCC-