The Federal Communications Commission’s republican majority is now 0 for 2 in federal appeals court challenges to its weed whacker campaign to prune back telecommunications and media regulations. In an opinion released yesterday, the third circuit federal appeals court, based in Philadelphia, voted 2 to 1 to overturn an FCC ruling that loosened restrictions on media ownership, because republican commissioners blew off concerns about the effect it would have on women and minorities. In August, Washington, D.C.-based federal appellate judges overturned an FCC decision that scrapped environmental reviews for small cell site, saying it was “not logical and rational”.
The Philadelphia judges were likewise scathing in their criticism of the process, or lack thereof, that the FCC used in reaching its decision. It’s the second time in two months that federal appellate judges have rejected a controversial, party line FCC ruling because the republican majority did not do its homework…
Problems abound with the FCC’s analysis. Most glaring is that, although we instructed it to consider the effect of any rule changes on female as well as minority ownership, the Commission cited no evidence whatsoever regarding gender diversity…
Even just focusing on the evidence with regard to ownership by racial minorities, however, the FCC’s analysis is so insubstantial that it would receive a failing grade in any introductory statistics class.
The case has to do with how many TV stations a single company can own, and whether a company can own a TV station and a newspaper in the same media market. It’s not an issue I follow closely, so if you want more background on it, take a look at this story on CNET by Marguerite Reardon.
The court’s opinion has broader significance, because it shows an increasing lack of deference to the FCC’s supposed policy expertise and decreasing tolerance for sloppy decision making that begins with an idealogical conclusion and then supports it with sophomoric legal arguments rather than basing it on the evidence in the record. Appellate court challenges to two more FCC rulings – one rolling back Obama-era network neutrality rules and the other preempting local ownership of street light poles and similar infrastructure in the public right of way – are based on similar grounds. A ruling on the net neutrality case could come at any time. The appeals of the right of way decisions still have several months, at least, to run.