FCC Chairman Carr: Reinvigorate Public Interest Standard or Auction Broadcast Spectrum

In a wide-ranging discussion on several programs, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continued to state his view that broadcast stations must operate in the “public interest.” In an interview on the Media Research Center’s News Busters podcast, the Chairman was critical of news coverage on legacy media:

“The legacy mainstream media missed some of the most important stories of the last five or ten years.  Hunter Biden laptop story, gone.  Covid origins, total miss.  Whips at the border – remember that story?  There were all these stories about emergency rooms in the Midwest being shut down from Ivermectin overdoses.  It ended up being complete hoaxes, not true.  Covington Catholic [Nicholas Sandmann], you go down the line.  Jussie Smollett.  Major, major important stories.  The reason why this news media should exist, and they’re 180 [degrees] wrong on it.  So, I think it’s a massive indictment on themselves.”

The Chairman noted that broadcasters obtain federal spectrum for free in return for broadcasting in the public interest.  There is no question that Chairman Carr wants to reinvigorate the public interest standard as applied to local stations. In this regard, he mentioned on the Hugh Hewitt show that he would like to see more locally originated news.  He also discussed shifting power away from national content suppliers to local stations.

Crafting regulations that define the “public interest” is difficult. It appears the Chairman does not want to go back to the regulatory approach taken in the Fairness Doctrine. The Chairman suggested that the FCC could auction off broadcasters’ spectrum allowing those who do not want to comply with public interest obligations to buy it. Such an approach would be a complete shift in communications policy. 

You can see the Chairman's discussion in the Media Research Center’s News Busters podcast here. 

You can see the Chairman’s interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show here.