More FCC

Within his article, “Who Is Watching the Watchdog”, John Dunbar discusses the theory of “The Spinning Door”, “Frequent Flying”, as well as “What Occurs Behind Closed Doors”.

To begin, “The Spinning Door” theory is based around federal government officials. These people will occasionally leave their jobs with the government and move on to work within the field that they formerly represented. This could potentially pose a problem because the government officials have gained a great deal of inside information from their previous job that they can take with them into their new position. Only officials who held considerably high positions are mandated to follow a set of rules once they begin working in the industry.

Next, Dunbar talks about his theory of “Frequent Flying”. This refers to FCC officials who attend industry events and are then treated like royalty by the companies that they represent. This, of course is an issue as it can be viewed as a form of bribery. After all, it would make sense for these FCC officials to be biased toward a company that treats them like gold as opposed to an ordinary company.

Lastly, “What Occurs Behind Closed Doors” comes into play. Dunbar describes how a great number of companies have private meetings with the FCC to discuss issues such as media ownership rules and regulations. Since there are no records of these particular meetings, the public remains blind to this process and has no way of knowing what is being discussed behind closed doors.

Chairman Powell claims that the industry’s influence over the FCC can sometimes go too far. I agree with this, considering how powerful the media has become. When it comes to advertising, for example, the public ultimately allows themselves to be manipulated and persuaded into purchasing products or services they most likely do not need. Sometimes advertisements can even convince us to adopt a new lifestyle! Although the FCC cannot get rid of advertising, and they have taken measures to protect the public, I still believe that they could do more.