The Public Interest, Pornography, & the FCC Leadership Dynamic

American broadcast-media policy has been on a pendulum between liberalization and more restrictive regulation since passage of the 1934 Communications Act, which introduced the Fairness Doctrine as a bridge between pubic interest and commercial interest and vetted regulatory authority with a seven-person Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This pendulum-like sway between deregulation and more restrictive government control has been fueled by advances in technology; shifts in the political, ideological, and moral landscape; and by the distrust of government among many U.S. Americans.

Much of the FCC citizen input, participation opportunities, and systems are laced with the values, morality, and social fabric of previous generations, responding poorly to the rapid pace of technology and public demands. This is reflected in the FCC practices impacting citizen involvement, the regulation of communications (including the Internet, broadband, news media, the press, and television programming), the promotion, and television programming), the promotion of public-service advertising (PSAs), and shepherding publicly owned platforms, spectrums, and other media products. The book examines the legal, political, and social implications of continuing the practice of allowing broadcasters' self-monitored Public Service Broadcasting to satisfy the requirement that radio and television broadcasters serve the public interest. Additionally, the book identifies best practices and benchmarks leading to recommendations intended to improve public-service delivery in support of local community values and the protection of America's youth.