Defining “Public Interest”

Less than thirty days into the new administration, a common phrase keeps surfacing – the public interest.  FCC licenses come with a built-in legal requirement to conduct broadcast operations in the “public interest, convenience, and necessity.”  But Congress, the FCC and the courts have never adopted a precise definition of the public interest standard.  Basically, they’ve nibbled around the edges when necessary, interpreting certain actions within the standard (i.e., serving the needs of the community) and some outside the standard (i.e., obscene content or false EAS tones).  The lack of a clear definition gives the FCC very broad discretion to put a station’s actions under a “public interest” microscope.

That microscope is being wielded freely in the first days of the new administration, in various contexts – reinstating and examining news distortion complaints as public interest matters, and zooming in on whether stations are acting “based on their financial interests at the expense of community responsiveness” in obtaining free or discounted performances from musical artists that may be resulting in favorable air play.

Carr is concerned with an erosion of public trust in the media and has previously called for a rulemaking proceeding to newly consider and further define what the public interest standard means.  We may see that proceeding soon after there is a 3^rd Republican Commissioner at the FCC.