News-Record.com

I listened to Chairman Powell speak over 4 years ago and the impression I came away with is that he believes that FREE Over-The-Air TV and Radio days are limited. With Cable & Satellite subscription dominating the way Americans receive TV, the only justification to have local TV is to guarentee placement on cable and satellite.

Radio fragmentation has all but eliminated local radio as we knew it twenty years ago. There is NO local news radio station in Greensboro and those that call Greensboro home, get their news from the News & Record's morning paper. (As do many of the local TV stations.)

So with local content and local origination disappearing from the public airwaves, does Chairman Powell believe it was a good thing to allow consolidation?

Enjoy the meeting because I understand that Chairman Powell is a well liked and personable fellow.

During Powell's reign, more fines were levied for "indecency" in broadcast media than ever before. There is broad disagreement as to what's "indecent" and I'd like to know (a) how he defines it and (b) does he keep within that definition the understand that he's supposed to represent *we* the people, many of whom think differently than those who are, at the time, in power. A corollary: does he believe that his own moral (religious) beliefs should flavor his definition of "indecency" when working in and for the public sphere? (Yes, they color his beliefs, but should his own religious/ethical/moral personality be the law of the land?)

typo: "understand" should be "understanding", of course.