Cronkite School to Host FCC Hearing on the Future of American Media

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University will host a Federal Communications Commission hearing Monday on the future of American media. The public hearing explores the FCC report “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,” which was released in June. The report analyzes the current state of the American media and information landscape and provides recommendations for strengthening and innovating news and information gathering. The hearing will be live-streamed on the FCC website and broadcast live across Arizona on Arizona PBS Eight World 8.3 through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Commissioner Michael Copps, Chief of FCC Media Bureau William Lake and report author Steve Waldman will hear testimony from a panel of media experts. Cronkite School faculty played a key role in shaping the report, and the school was featured prominently in it. Leonard Downie Jr., the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at Cronkite and former executive editor of The Washington Post, who contributed significantly to the report; Retha Hill, director of the school’s New Media Innovation Lab; and Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan will speak at the hearing. “The report is an insightful and comprehensive look at our news media ecosystem and makes important recommendations for the digital future,” Callahan said. “It’s an honor to host the FCC hearing, and we are optimistic that real action will come from the report and hearing.” The report comes from the FCC Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities, which was charged with identifying ways to ensure that the information needs of American communities are met in a rapidly changing media landscape. Among the highlights of the report: News consumers are able to choose from a variety of news sources, but many communities face a shortage of local, professional reporting that focuses on accountability. Newspapers are innovating rapidly and reaching new audiences, but most are operating with smaller reporting staffs. Far from being near extinction, the traditional media players — TV stations and newspapers — are the largest providers of local news online. While digital technology has empowered people in many ways, a concurrent decline in local reporting has, in other cases, shifted power away from citizens to government and other powerful institutions, which can now more easily set the news agenda. The nonprofit media sector has become far more varied, and important, than ever before. It now includes state public affairs networks, wikis, local news websites, organizations producing investigative reporting and journalism schools as well as low-power FM stations, traditional public radio and TV, educational shows on satellite TV and public access channels. Rather than seeing themselves only as competitors, commercial and nonprofit media are now finding it increasingly useful to collaborate. The hearing will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the Eight/KAET-Phoenix studios in the Cronkite building at 555 N. Central Ave. on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Media experts providing testimony include: Jonathan Blake, Senior Counsel, Covington & Burling, LLC, on behalf of Barrington, Belo, Dispatch, Gannett, Hearst, Post-Newsweek and Raycom Susan Crawford, Professor, Cardozo Law School Kevin Davis, CEO and Executive Director, Investigative News Network Greg Dawson, Vice President of News, NBC7 San Diego Leonard Downie Jr., Weil Family Professor of Journalism, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University Paul Giguere, President and CEO, National Association of Public Affairs Networks Retha Hill, Director of the New Media Innovation Lab, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University Jason Klein, President and CEO, Newspaper National Network Craig Parshall, SVP and General Counsel, National Religious Broadcasters Nicol Turner Lee, Vice President and Director, Media and Technology Institute for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Laura Walker, President and CEO, New York Public Radio (WNYC) Coriell Wright, Policy Counsel, Free Press The full report can be accessed at: www.fcc.gov/infoneedsreport. What: A national public hearing on the June 2011 FCC report “The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age.” Where: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, 555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. When: 9 to 11:30 a.m., Monday, Oct. 3 Parking: Parking is available in the lot just north of the Cronkite School. Access the lot from Fillmore Street. Media access: Please RSVP to julie.newberg@asu.edu or marshall.terrill@asu.edu if you plan to cover the event. Please also describe your technical needs. Public access: The event is open to the public. Contacts: Julie Newberg Arizona State University Media Relations julie.newberg@asu.edu (480) 727-3116 Marshall Terrill Arizona State University Media Relations marshall.terrill@asu.edu (602) 496-1005