WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says.

Media ownership study ordered destroyed:
FCC draft suggested fewer owners would hurt local TV coverage

Comments: Being a former student of politics, I am not surprised that the FCC would simply destroy a study which contradicted certain political interests.

This is very serious, and a deliberate subversion of the democratic process. The FCC members who suppressed this report should be fired immediately. Plain and simple.

From the report:

Our study suggests that locally owned television broadcast stations air more local news than network owned-and-operated and non-locally owned stations, even adjusting for the number of stations owned by the corporate parent. We find that local ownership of television stations adds almost five and one-half minutes of local news and over three minutes of local on-location news.

Under pressure, the FCC has placed copies of the report on their website. In the interests of democracy, I have saved copies of the report.

Do Local Owners Deliver More Localism: Some Evidence From Local Broadcast News

Here is a copy of the report for radio too:

Draft 2003 "Review of the Radio Industry"

I encourage others to do the same, before these reports disappear again or get altered. Let's keep these guys honest. "FCC" shouldn't stand for "Federal Censorship Commission."

Also, Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell's assertion that he never saw the report is just plain ludicrous.

Makes you wonder what else they have suppressed over the years.

While the FCC are straightening out their mess, I suggest turning off the TV news, especially if you are one of the millions of families that watch the news over dinner. Your family's news is more important anyway.

Plus, there are other problems with the news beyond this story.

Fake News and other reasons not to watch TV news by Katherine Westphal