Powell Cites ‘Silent Majority’ of Support

FCC Chairman Michael Powell believes there’s a big misunderstanding about what the commission did last Monday when it changed the media ownership rules.
Powell told the Boston Globe he “didn’t eliminate one rule” governing media ownership, but changed the standards for several of them.
Powell has consistently disputed criticism by Democrats and consumer groups who have said there wasn’t enough notice to the public before the vote. According to the Globe, this time Powell called the notion “garbage.” Noting approximately 520,000 public comments filed at the commission on the issue, the chairman said commissioners had more public input on media ownership than on any other issue since he began as a commissioner in 2001.
Powell cited what he said was a less publicized finding by a recent Pew study that showed 57% of those surveyed felt they weren’t going to be affected by the issue. What been publicized, he said, is 70% of Americans hadn’t heard much about the proceeding.
“If members of the public aren’t as excited as you or don’t care as much as you, it doesn’t mean they aren’t informed,” Powell stated.
He suggested that a “silent majority” of Americans backed or accepted the changes.