FCC Report Finds Shortage in Local Reporting

By Merrill Knox 

An FCC report out today on the information needs of communities details a major shortage in local reporting.

The report is the result of an 18-month push to explore the changes in traditional media in the U.S. The FCC warns that local reporting is an important tool in holding government agencies, schools and businesses accountable.

“A shortage of reporting manifests itself in invisible ways: stories not written, scandals not exposed, government waste not discovered, health dangers not identified in time, local elections involving candidates about whom we know little,” the report says.

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Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC’s Media Bureau will take the increased information-providing ability into account when considering local TV stations combining. The report is partially intended to aid the FCC in the review of media ownership rules.

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