Waiting for Genachowski
BY Nancy Scola | Thursday, June 11 2009
Let's see...carry the one...adjust for the short month...and, yep, it's been 103 days since Barack Obama nominated his campaign technology advisor Julius Genachowski to serve as the chair of the Federal Communications Committee. But Reuters reports and the Senate Commerce Committee confirms that Genachowski's confirmation hearing will be held next Tuesday, June 16th, at 2:30pm ET. Genachowski's confirmation has been scheduled and canceled once before, but this event seem destined to actually happen. Currently-serving Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell has been renominated for another term on the FCC, creating a balance of power that helps smooth Genachowski's way. McDowell's re-confirmation is also scheduled for Tuesday. On fleshing out the rest of the commission, Reuters also reports that "A source familiar with the committee's agenda said a separate hearing was likely to be held at a later date for Mignon Clyburn to fill a Democratic seat and Meredith Attwell Baker to fill a Republican seat."
Which means Genachowski will avoid presiding over at least the early days of the rocky digital television switch happening tomorrow. And it also means that we'll likely soon have a fuller picture of what the Genachowski-era of telecom reform and regulation will look like. Right now, it's much speculation. Since we still have a few days to kill, let's speculate a bit more. There is an interesting and underdiscussed context raised in the comments section of the left-leaning site Crooks & Liars, tied to a post about yesterday's Holocaust Museum shootings and the reaction of Fox News' Glenn Beck and other television talkers. In addition to net neutrality, broadband access, and other tech-focused areas where Genachowski will have dominion, the FCC is also responsible for overseeing media diversity. As much as we don't know where Genachowski stands on many topics, we do know that he played a large part in drafting candidate Obama's technology platform during the campaign. And on a relevant point, that platform read, "As president, Obama will...clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation’s spectrum." How active might a Genechowski-led FCC be in pursuing a "clarification" of what broadcasters owe the public, especially when the subjects of controversy are more violent extremism than nipple slips and dirty words? Stay tuned.