Candidates’ Differences on Media Outlined

By Ira Teinowitz

Barack Obama would more closely examine broadcasters’ public-interest obligations, while John McCain would ensure that the government doesn’t take steps to interfere with the Internet’s growth, surrogates for the candidates are suggesting.

At a forum Tuesday sponsored by the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, former FCC Chairman William Kennard, speaking for Obama, and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce John Kneuer, speaking for McCain, offered sharply different views of the Federal Communications Commission’s future under their candidates.

Mr. Kneuer, now managing director of telecommunications and media for the Carlyle Group, questioned Sen. McCain’s support for increasing the number of broadcast stations owned by minorities through certificates to ease taxes while supporting ownership changes that lead to more consolidation of media ownership.

“It’s great to have certificates, but you have to have something to buy,” said Mr. Kennard, suggesting Mr. McCain’s efforts would do little. He said Mr. Obama had opposed media consolidation because he thought consolidation would make it much harder for minority broadcasters to buy stations.

Mr. Kneuer, now senior VP of strategic planning and external affairs for Rivada Networks, also said proponents of consolidation wrongly cite the Internet and new media as providing competition, when most Americans still get their news and information from traditional broadcast and cable media. Advertisers too spend most of their media dollar on the traditional media.

Mr. Kneuer said Mr. Obama was underplaying the competition new media offers, saying these are no longer “nascent” technologies.

“Every candidate for president announced on the Internet,” he said.

Mr. Kneuer also said Mr. McCain backed the view that the government should proceed carefully in any regulation of the Internet and rely mostly on antitrust regulation, rather than some rules on net neutrality.

A day after an appellate court overturned the FCC’s fining of CBS stations for the Janet Jackson Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction,” Mr. Kennard said Mr. Obama’s focus would be on providing the technology for parents to better choose the content they want kids to see, rather than regulating content providers. He suggested that ratings for programs and the V-chip technology need improvement.

Mr. Kneuer said Mr. McCain feels the key factor is clarification of the rules for what can be shown.

[Corrected attribution in fifth paragraph, 1:53 p.m.]