WASHINGTON, D.C. LOCALISM FIELD HEARING STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. MCDOWELL Thank you for coming to the FCC, and to my hometown of Washington D.C., as we conduct our final localism field hearing as part of the Commission’s media ownership proceeding. We are here to gather information from our distinguished panelists and from the audience on the service that broadcasters provide to this community. Promoting localism is a key goal of the Commission’s media ownership rules, along with ensuring competition and diversity. Localism is not just a good idea, it’s the law. The McDowell Family has worked in the media business in the Washington, D.C. market on many different levels. My mother, Martha Shea McDowell, worked for the Washington Post, a local paper, in the 1970s. My father, Bart McDowell, was a senior editor for National Geographic Magazine, an international publication. And I was an intern for two local radio stations: WMAL and WTOP. So your views on the local Washington market are especially important to me. I look forward to hearing from you today about how the ownership of local media properties affects you as viewers, listeners, readers, businesspeople, consumers and citizens. Are broadcasters providing this community with the local information and support it needs? Are broadcast stations still your primary source for local news and information? Is the Internet, with blogs and other alternative sources of content, really competing with traditional broadcasting for local coverage? Armed with this information – which only you can provide – we at the FCC can analyze today’s media marketplace and determine if and how our rules should change. To our panelists and audience members -- thank you for being here today and for participating in our hearing. We value your opinions.