Radio – Media & Communications Policy

September 18, 2025October 22, 2025 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

The Future of Conservative Media

The slaying of conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk as he spoke at a campus rally in Utah was a tragedy on many levels: the wrenching of a devoted family man from his wife and young children; the fatal silencing of a speaker in a nation where freedom of speech is a constitutional guarantee; and a manifestation of the increasingly brutal partisanship gripping this country.

This senseless killing also has drawn newfound attention to the environment in which Charlie Kirk thrived – the catalyst that propelled him to the forefront of a movement, making him a hero to millions and a public figure to all: conservative media.

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 By Guest Author Anna Gomez

Government’s Unprecedented Threat to the First Amendment

Our current political moment poses challenges unlike anything I thought I would face as an FCC Commissioner. This Administration has been on a campaign to censor and control since, well, before day one. And since day one the FCC has been implementing the will of this Administration and undermining the First Amendment at every turn.

The First Amendment has protected our fundamental right to speak freely and to hold power to account since 1791. It is foundational to our democracy. Today, the greatest threat to that freedom is coming from our own government.

March 21, 2025March 19, 2025 By Michael O'Rielly

Bringing Forbearance to Video Services

The communications sector is beset by layers upon layers of unnecessary government burdens. While visible in many areas, obsolete policies fastened to traditional video providers – some of which were chiseled over 40 years ago – are clearly ready for the delete button.

Yet, erasing outdated regulations, even if there’s universal agreement, takes massive amounts of time and Herculean effort to overcome the procedural hoops and eventual court challenges. That’s unacceptable in today’s very fluid and competitive video marketplace.

March 13, 2025March 13, 2025 By Guest Author Curtis LeGeyt

Local Broadcasters Need Level Playing Field To Compete, Innovate, Serve the Public

America’s broadcasters are beacons of our democracy. Every day, they exercise their First Amendment right to report, inform, and help citizens understand the issues that affect their daily lives.

And let’s face it: This is a challenging time to be a broadcast journalist. As the truth competes with falsehoods on social media and political polarization gets the headlines, exercising our First Amendment right to inform the public and provide the facts has never been more challenging – or essential.

September 6, 2024September 5, 2024 By Guest Author Gary Shapiro

Tech’s Role in Driving Innovation: Why Over-Regulation Stifles Progress

Recently, The Media Institute shared a commentary by Adonis Hoffman suggesting tech should be highly regulated, blaming it for many problems faced by traditional media. On behalf of the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA)^®1,300 tech company members, many of which are leading competitors around the world and collectively are driving economic and stock market growth, I strongly disagree with this perspective. The notion of using government to “tear down” one industry to “boost” another is misguided and harmful to the competitive spirit that drives American innovation and economic success.

Tech is tackling global challenges and improving lives for billions of people. Indeed, CTA and CES^® partnered with the United Nations to provide and promote solutions for clean water, clean air, health care, and food availability. As innovators develop solutions saving lives, some media industry lobbyists whose businesses lost market share to innovative competitors push for unnecessary taxes and restrictions on tech – simply because it has disrupted traditional models.

February 2, 2023 By Stuart N. Brotman

A Ray of Hope for Media Literacy

Although the tidal wave of misinformation continues unabated, the New Year already has seen one ray of hope. In early January, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the first-in-the-nation law that requires public schools to teach media literacy at all grade levels – K-12.

Murphy noted in his signing statement: “Our democracy remains under sustained attack through the proliferation of misinformation that is eroding the role of truth in our political and civic discourse. It is our responsibility to ensure our nation’s future leaders are equipped with the tools necessary to identify fact from fiction.”

January 29, 2021July 7, 2021 By Stuart N. Brotman

Why Distrust of News Needs More Sophisticated Analysis

With a start of a new year, some notable public attitudes about critical institutions seem to be on a downward trend. These include traditional media, like newspapers, broadcast stations, and cable networks, which are often thrown together in opinion polls aimed at gaining key insight into their credibility with audiences of readers and viewers.

The Edelman Trust Barometer found only 46 percent of Americans trust traditional media. This is the lowest number recorded since the data was first tracked two decades ago. It found 58 percent of Americans believe that “most news organizations are more concerned with supporting one ideology or political position than with informing the public” and found over half also think that the Fourth Estate is “trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”

September 25, 2020September 25, 2020 By Guest Author Gordon Smith

First Amendment Still Shines During Toughest of Times

Two hundred and thirty-one years ago this week, Congress passed a collection of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, 10 of which would become the Bill of Rights. Foremost in the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment, which allows Americans to worship how they please, speak their minds openly, and have their voices heard by their government.

Our Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, also included in the First Amendment the right to a free press. They understood that our democracy could not survive without the freedom to report the news without fear or favor. The times may have changed; that principle has not.

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 By Guest Author Gary Arlen

Early Voting Brings New Media Challenges In Advertising and Editorial Endorsements

From shifting commercial placements to premature newspaper endorsements, this year’s early balloting procedures are having a massive effect on media operations. Political strategists are figuring out how and more importantly when to place ads in this unprecedented season of extensive early voting.

The Halloween weekend deluge of campaign ads just before Election Day on Nov. 3 may be meaningless if up to half of voters have already cast their ballots. In a related vein, the ripple effect of advertising decisions also affects ad timing for down-ballot races, where voters may need more coaxing.

July 7, 2020August 13, 2020 By Guest Author Gary Arlen

Ending the Media Versus Police Tumult

Whatever happens with police reform legislation in Congress, there is no reason to expect that protection of reporters and media will figure into the proposed “best practices” of how journalists should be treated during tense and often violent situations such as we’ve seen in the past month. Generalized protections already exist in the First Amendment, but as the brutal incidents of the past month show, law enforcement officers can recklessly bypass those enshrined barriers.

A slew of reports – some of them admittedly self-pitying – emerged in recent weeks with frightening details about how print and electronic journalists have been attacked by law enforcement officers. It appears that sometimes reporters were singled out as they sought to cover the protests and demonstrations that erupted around the world after George Floyd’s death-by-knee in Minneapolis.