FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy's Statement on Chairman Powell's Depar

[NVMojo]

THE QUESTION IS "WHAT HAPPENS TO THE RECENT ARMSTRONG INVESTIGATION IN LIGHT OF THIS? WILL IT CONTINUE?"

CNSNews.com Information Services
January 21, 2005
snip...
"It has been an honor and privilege for me to work with Chairman Michael K. Powell. His departure from the agency will be a tremendous loss for the American people. more:

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200501%5CNAT20050121f.html

NOW, please look at this action and explain to me that it DOES NOT have anything to do with this announcement, and note that the only place on this email I got from the FCC YESTERDAY (not on the day the press release was written) in reponse to my Armstrong Williams complaint that mentions Armstrong Williams is in the email subject line. His name and case is not mentioned specifically in the body of the attachment, another company case is. WTF??????:

-----Original Message-----
From: FCCInfo
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 12:39 PM
To: NVMOJO
Subject: PROBLEM00963730 - Armstrong Williams complaint

You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.

Please review the News Release at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-256115A1.pdf.

This e-mail contains an attachment that is in ".pdf" format. If you are unable to open this attachment, it is most likely because your computer doesn't have Adobe Reader, which is the program needed to open these types of files. You can install a free copy of Adobe Reader from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Rep Number : TSR53
Mailout Attachment Name : GENERIC.PDF (see attachment <GENERIC.PDF>)


NEWS
News media Information 202 / 418-0500
Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830
TTY 202/418-2555
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
ftp.fcc.gov
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT
January 14, 2005 David Fiske 202-418-0513
STATEMENT OF FCC CHAIRMAN MICHAEL K. POWELL

In response to recent reports regarding potential violations of the "payola" andsponsorship identification provisions of the Communications Act, I have instructed the Enforcement Bureau to open two investigations:
One into issues regarding commentator Armstrong Williams; and the other into issues regarding station WKSE (FM), Niagara Falls, New York, licensed to a subsidiary of Entercom Communications Corporation. These provisions govern disclosure and sponsorship identification regarding payments or ther consideration in connection with broadcast programs.
- FCC -

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. daddy can no longer cover for Junior

[ooglymoogly]

2. woo woo woo

can't wait for this to play out

[BiggJawn]

3. BiggJawn's statement on Chairman Powell's departure.

"Good-Bye to Bad Rubbish. Don't let the door hitcha where Random Chance splitcha!"

Now maybe we'll get a Chairman installed who's not hell-bent to sell all the public RF spectrum to private industry, and perhaps the FCC will finally admit what an unworkable "solution looking for a problem" BPL was, and not authorize anymore trials of it.

[NVMojo]

4. my inquiry to Senator Reid about finishing the Armstrong investigation

I am writing to you about my concerns regarding the Armstrong Williams/NCLB case and the recent resignation of FCC Chairman Powell. I know that Senator Harry Reid has been agressively looking into the Williams/NCLB case and has demanded some accountability with regards to the taxpayers money involved.

Today FCC Chairman Powell resigned from his position. Ironically, yesterda, January 20, 2005, I received the following email from the FCC regarding an investigation that was to be launched. I had lodged an FCC complaint about the Williams case. I am including it here for you to see.

I found it odd that I received it yesterday, 6 days after the press release was authored, and the only place Armstrong Williams' name or case is specifically mentioned is in the email subject line but it is somewhat alluded to in the press release through the use of the word "payola" and another case that was also to be looked into by the FCC.

I am suspicious that Powell's resignation is connected to launching the Armstrong investigation and I am wondering if Senator Reid will be able to make sure it is continued and the interest of the U.S. taxpayers is still held up. Thank you for your time and consideration of my concern.



-----Original Message-----
From: FCCInfo <mailto:[e-mail] >
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 12:39 PM
To: nvmojo email address
Subject: PROBLEM00963730 - Armstrong Williams complaint

You are receiving this email in response to your inquiry to the FCC.

Please review the News Release at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-2... .

[housewolf]

5. Powell & Powell

Hmmm... let's see.

Colin Powell is out of a job.

Michael Powell is out of a job.

Anyone want to wager along with me that next month we see a new lobbying firm on K Street named "Powell & Powell"??????

[NVMojo]

6. THE QUESTION IS "WHAT HAPPENS TO THE RECENT ARMSTRONG INVESTIGATION IN

LIGHT OF THIS?" Will it continue?

[cry baby]

7. This is so important...maybe you could call Sen. Reid's office and

ask. I know that your email might get buried in thousands of emails. Please let us know if you get a response. I'll try to call, too. I'll also send an email to FCC to ask with the info in your post.

[NVMojo]

8. Check this out ...

Powell Confirms Payola Investigations

January 18, 2005

FCC Chairman Michael Powell has released an official statement confirming reports that he has opened payola investigations involving Armstrong Williams and WKSE/Buffalo Program Director Dave Universal.

"In response to recent reports regarding potential violations of the 'payola' and sponsorship identification provisions of the Communications Act, I have instructed the Enforcement Bureau to open two investigations:

One into issues regarding commentator Armstrong Williams; and the other into issues regarding station WKSE (FM), Niagara Falls, New York, licensed to a subsidiary of Entercom Communications Corporation.

These provisions govern disclosure and sponsorship identification regarding payments or other consideration in connection with broadcast programs."

http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=62337

[NVMojo]

9. this could be the key part here ...in the same WP article ...

"An investigation could extend to the stations that carried the program if the broadcaster knew of Williams's arrangement but did not make that clear to viewers, FCC officials have said. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10984-2005Jan14.html

DID THE STATIONS KNOW THAT WILLIAMS BROADCAST WAS A PAID POLITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT??? That is against the law if they knew and did have the thing tagged as such so the public clearly knew the broadcasts of Williams lobbying for Bush's NCLB was a paid for with tax dollars political announcement.

There are two possible angles here, either Powell was for the investigation of Armstrong or against it.....

[cry baby]

10. Well, it looks like there has been an investigation opened already

The question is if the new chairman will actively pursue or let it drop into oblivion. Am I reading that right?

[NVMojo]

11. yes, that is what I really want to know. We deserve to know the outcome

of any investigation of this case! It should not be dropped. But who is trusting Bush in this anyway? Obviously Colin Powell is not leaving the White House on butt kissing terms ....now his son resigns the FCC, the agency assigned to investigate Armstrong and Bush's little dirty deal. Who is Bush going to put in Powell jr.s place? Probably the woman making the statement at the top of this thread....

[cry baby]

12. Maybe we can keep up with it through Media Matters. They should

be keeping up pressure on FCC.

[liveoaktx]

13. I find it suspicious that he quit so quickly after starting payola invest

He had planned to stay on for a long time.

[KoKo]

14. Here's what Bob McChesney from Free Press sent out and a little

from the Wall St. Journal Article. What's interesting is that the House is going to "Revisit the 1997 Media Deregulation Act in the coming sessions. The WSJ article speculates who who might replace Powell, too. So maybe some Googling is in order to scope the folks mentioned to see if there are some "skeletons." Or, wait until a person is proposed to start the sluething. :shrug:

Here's Free Press e-mail to me..and the WSJ article. I agree something's very odd about Powell's leaving. I'd like to think HE's somehow involved in the Williams mess...maybe he knew about payola and was involved in some way. There are only two Dem Commissioners. They really had a hard time with Powell. Maybe they new something which they told Reid? (This is only speculation on my part, but what I saw of Powell, I think he was an arrogant Cheney plant who supported the Bushies and the Media Corporate Whores every chance he got.)

Here's the e-mail, followed by the WSJ article with the last paragraph listing who might be tapped by the Emperor. BTW: I think McChesney's wrong about contacting the Emperor. :shrug:

-----------

Demand Bush appoint an FCC chief that will serve the public interest

The FCC was created in 1934 to protect and promote the public interest. A unified public voice is the only way to win the FCC back from the corporate lobbyists who consider it their personal fiefdom.

We shook up Washington when millions opposed Powell's efforts to undo media ownership rules. We stopped Sinclair. We forced an investigation of payola pundits like Armstrong Williams.

Your voice makes a difference. Please take a minute and send a message to President Bush.

Onward,

Robert McChesney
President and Co-founder
Free Press

--------------------------------------------------

FCC chairman Powell expected to quit today
From Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2005
By Joseph Schuman

Michael Powell is calling it quits today after four years at the helm of the Federal Communications Commission, the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal reports.

The unsigned editorial cites no source, saying only that it has been told about Mr. Powell's decision. Nor does the editorial mention the reasons behind Mr. Powell's departure, but says that since he served a term as FCC commissioner before becoming chairman in 2001, "it is easy to believe that after eight years he's ready for some new challenges, probably in the private sector." The editorial argues that while it sometimes seemed his tenure was "about little more than Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunctions and Howard Stern's potty mouth," Mr. Powell's legacy was the oversight of a "telecommunications sector that has never been more dynamic," and that his exit gives the Bush administration an opportunity to "re-evaluate its stepchild treatment of telecom policy."

The editorial is in marked contrast with a piece in the Economist. "Mr. Powell's critics would counter that much of this onward marching is taking place in spite of the FCC's best efforts to impede it," the magazine writes. "From a battle over America's media-ownership rules to a scrap about telecoms regulation, the courts, Congress, the media and even fellow Republican commissioners have taken turns sticking the knife into the FCC's soft-bellied chairman." The Economist nonetheless notes that Mr. Powell's current term doesn't expire until 2007, and that following the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, he seemed "as full of zest for public office as ever." Yet his current agenda is dominated by old business, the magazine says. He must decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court a lower court's freeze of a measure relaxing media-ownership rules, and produce long-promised rules governing telecom competition for local services, among other tasks.

Rumors about Mr. Powell's possible departure have been swirling since the election, and BusinessWeek briefly looks at a probable short list of Powell successors: former top Texas utilities regulator Rebecca A. Klein; FCC Commissioner Kevin J. Martin; Assistant Commerce Secretary Michael D. Gallagher; and Washington attorney Earl Comstock, a former aide to new Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens. And "the new FCC chief would face a full agenda since Stevens is preparing to rewrite the 1996 Telecommunications Act," BusinessWeek notes.