STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN
CONCUR IN PART, DISSENT IN PART
Re: Broadcast Localism, Report on Broadcast Localism and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
After four and a half years, during three of which the Commission did nothing on this proceeding, 
today we finally adopt this Report and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Regrettably, it merely recites the 
issues of public concern, repackages previous Commission actions, and proffers yet another set of 
proposals.  There are no final rules – nothing concrete to foster a better relationship between broadcast 
licensees and the public they are licensed to serve.  
Today’s item literally does nothing meaningful to promote localism.  It is as if we promised to 
deliver a book but produced only the cover.  While some may contend that this Report and Notice is the 
conclusion of the 2003 localism proceeding, in meeting the Commission’s commitment to Congress and 
the American people, it is really only the beginning.  We have not met the demand from leading members 
of Congress that we conclude our localism proceeding before acting on media ownership.    
When the Localism Task Force was launched, we were promised “rigorous studies” and 
legislative recommendations.  We have seen neither studies nor any recommendations to Congress.  After 
the expenditure of over $350,000 of taxpayer funds and valuable staff resources, the Task Force – if it still 
exists – owes the American people and Congress completed studies and solid recommendations on which 
to base immediate action by the Commission and Congress.  
We heard from citizens at hearings across the country that there is a real urgency to improve the 
responsiveness of local broadcast stations to the needs, interests, tastes and values of local communities.  
Rather than a serious effort to address these concerns, the localism proceeding from its inception in 2003 
appears to have been a political tactic – a means to deflect attention away from the fact that the 
Commission, in spite of strong public and congressional opposition, had just passed the most reckless set 
of media ownership rules in history.  Sadly, today the Commission is paving the same road towards 
consolidation.  This localism proceeding continues to be used as political cover for the Commission to 
weaken broadcast ownership rules and permit more media consolidation.  Make no mistake, the only real 
actions we are taking today will undercut localism, diversity and competition.
I concur in part to this Report and Notice because – in word, if not in deed -- it represents a shift 
from the Commission’s earlier miscalculation that market forces alone will ensure broadcasters promote 
quality local news, local artists, and informative local political and civic affairs programming.  For over a 
quarter century, the Commission has outsourced its obligation to ensure that broadcasters will address the 
programming needs and interests of the people in their communities of license.  Today, we take a small 
step towards correcting the Commission’s past failings that produced a regulatory environment that 
limited citizen involvement and participation, provided broadcasters with virtually no guidance, and 
expected little, if any, accountability. 
We learned from our localism hearings that there is far too little coverage of local issues voters 
need to know about in a way that prepares them to make educated decisions. We heard that “breaking 
news” is being replaced with “breaking gossip.”  In community after community, we heard from citizens 
that serious coverage of local and state government has diminished.  In many respects, there was a virtual 
blackout of coverage of state and local elections.  And while networks and stations say they have to slash 
news resources, some were offering up to one million dollars for an interview with Paris Hilton.  Real 
investigative journalism and thoughtful reporting have given way to an “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality.
Sadly, today, quality journalism is too often sacrificed to meet quarterly earnings numbers for 
Wall Street.  Owners of multiple media outlets lose incentive to invest in independent and competitive 
news operations in the same market.  The Commission’s own study, which was originally buried until 
Senator Boxer demanded that the FCC publicly release it, shows that locally owned TV stations provide 
more local news.  And while the Commission has failed to complete a similar study of radio, we have 
heard across the country that homogenized playlists and payola are shutting out local musicians, and 
unmanned radio stations have replaced local DJs.
Historically, the Commission had looked for ways to promote localism in broadcasting to ensure 
that broadcasters were accountable and serving the public interest.  Since the 1980s, however, the 
Commission has gutted those protections and embarked on a destructive path to treat television like “a 
toaster with pictures.”  
With the encouragement of the broadcasting industry, the Commission has systematically 
removed the public from meaningful points of interaction between broadcasters and the communities that 
they are licensed to serve.  For example, broadcast stations are permitted to maintain main studios and 
their public files well beyond communities of license, so the public cannot effectively monitor the 
programming of local broadcasters.  Today, few broadcasters have citizen agreements with local 
community organizations.  Few broadcasters hold meetings with members of the community to determine 
the community’s interests and needs.  Enforceable public interest obligations that required broadcasters to 
maintain logs of programming that are responsive to local, civic, national or religious concerns have been 
decimated.  And, the once-substantive license renewal process conducted by the FCC has been ratcheted 
down to a postcard, rubber-stamp process.  
The end result is that today many stations are unattended and operated from remote locations, 
residents are discouraged from monitoring a station’s performance, and dialogue between the station and 
its community is often non-existent. Simply put, the FCC has failed to protect the interests of the 
American people. 
While few Americans are familiar with the term “localism,” most understand that providing 
“local” service to a “local” community is the essential purpose of broadcast radio and TV.  Broadcasting 
in America is and will always be a local medium.  Many broadcasters understand that and often deliver 
critical service to local communities.  Even today, the FCC continues to license valuable public airwaves 
– for free – to broadcasters, in exchange for service to local communities.  Localism is, therefore, the 
central obligation of every broadcast licensee to air programming that is relevant and responsive to the 
local community’s interests, tastes and needs.  As this Commission moves forward in the proceeding, it is 
important that we remember that localism is the cornerstone of American broadcasting and the 
Commission has an unquestionable obligation to protect the needs and interests of local communities.
While there are no new rules established in this Notice, there are proposals worthy of adoption.  I 
fully support the tentative conclusion in this Notice that each licensee should establish a permanent 
community advisory board.  This approach would help broadcasters determine the local needs and 
interests of their communities, and should be an integral part of a final plan for addressing localism.   I 
also support the Notice’s tentative conclusion that specific procedural guidelines for processing 
broadcasters’ license renewal applications.  Assessing licensees’ local programming performance would 
provide additional incentive for broadcasters to meet this fundamental obligation.  Although I and others 
will once again encourage the Commission to act immediately on these proposals, one can’t help but 
regard the prospects for quick implementation with a healthy degree of skepticism.  If history is any 
guide, the odds are that the Commission will either neglect to finalize these proposals, or when it comes 
time to finalize them, they may be so diluted as to render them meaningless.
We need to put the meat in the sandwich we promised to deliver.   It is high time we put this 
notice out for comment, but we should have actually implemented improvements to localism before we 
completed the media ownership item.  Now that the Commission has acted to loosen the media ownership 
rules, it is all the more imperative we move immediately to implement some of the useful ideas broached 
here and others that we learn about in the comment period.  We are already too late to have done this 
right.