Four FCC Regulators To Skip Chicago Workshop on Comcast-NBCU Merger
It's the biggest communications mega-merger of the Obama administration and a transaction that could reshape the media landscape for generations. Yet only one of the FCC's five regulators, Democrat Michael Copps, will bother to attend the agency's Tuesday "public workshop" in Chicago on the proposed combination of Comcast and NBC Universal.
That's despite the commission's central role in reviewing the transaction, along with the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, and the rarity of the event. It's the only outside-the-Beltway session the agency has announced on the merger, and will feature an opportunity for everyday citizens to weigh in.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has traveled to Lebanon, India, Qatar, Las Vegas and Los Angeles on official FCC business. And in recent weeks he's set-aside precious time for unannounced, closed-door sessions with high-powered telecommunications lobbyists about cutting a legislative deal on broadband regulation.
Updated: The chairman also found time to swing by Sun Valley, Idaho, this week, following a Fourth of July weekend business trip to Hawaii, to rub elbows with Hollywood moguls and Silicon Valley honchos at an annual conference hosted by the Allen & Co. investment firm.
So why won't he hop a flight to Chicago to hear what hardworking inner city residents and struggling South Side families -- who won't be permitted to speak until five hours into the program -- have to say about this proposed union?
"Copps is presiding over the workshop," the FCC's spokeswoman said. "We wanted to give him the spotlight." She noted that Genachowski would be watching some of the proceedings live from D.C., and needs to prep for the agency's monthly meeting on Thursday. "If the chairman goes, he gets the spotlight." He and other commissioners who can't make it are sending staffers.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who along with Copps urged Genachowski to hold outside-the-Beltway hearings on the merger, also won't attend. Her office wasn't immediately available for comment.
Both of the agency's GOP members will be absent. A staffer with Meredith Atwell Baker said she's not going because the workshop is being held by the Media Bureau and "isn't a commission-level hearing." He added, "Everyone takes a lead from the chairman." An aide to Commissioner Robert McDowell echoed the chairman's excuse: "He will be preparing for the open meeting on July 15."
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