Legal Question in Telecomm Law in Nebraska

Re: the future of broadcast journalism

Interesting question. Besides being a lawyer, I am a former TV anchor, executive producer, and reporter.

Let's face it. The genie is out of the bottle. The old approach of broadcasting in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity" is dead. Broadcasting in particular will not be re-regulated. The political and economic interests are too strong for it to go back. Liberal Democrat that I am, nonetheless, I'm not sure that's a bad thing. In a multichannel, multi-delivery system universe, cable and broadcasting should have the same full First Amendment rights as the print medium. I don't buy the "scarcity" argument any more. In my opinion, the new legal tool of choice should be anti-trust law to ensure that no media conglomerate achieves monopoly power nationally. Locally, you're going to have more problems.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, for whatever they are worth.

Thanks for your question.