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FCC Pulls Plug On Newsroom Study
February 28, 2014 at 3:28 PM (PT)
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In a terse announcement issued TODAY, the FCC has pulled the plug on its Critical Information Needs study that many in the media were concerned constituted an intrusion on the news gathering process.
The statement read, “The FCC will not move forward with the Critical Information Needs study. The Commission will reassess the best way to fulfill its obligation to Congress to identify barriers to entry into the communications marketplace faced by entrepreneurs and other small businesses.”
The study had come under heavy fire from Congress in recent days, with House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman GREG WALDEN (R-OR) preparing a bill to kill the study. FCC Chairman TOM WHEELER had suggested that the study would be revamped and the initial test run in SOUTH CAROLINA was tabled, but the study is now a dead issue with the Commission's announcement.
Commissioner AJIT PAI said, "I am pleased that the FCC has canceled its Critical Information Needs study. In our country, the government does not tell the people what information they need. Instead, news outlets and the American public decide that for themselves. I look forward to working with my colleagues to identify and remove actual barriers to entry into the communications industry. This newsroom study was a distraction from that important goal."

