Sarah Mae Flemming was an African-American woman in Columbia who during the 1950s took a seat reserved for whites on a segregated bus. And she did it more than a year before Rosa Parks, who prompted the famous Montgomery bus boycott, which became one of the best-known actions of the civil rights movement.
So why have so few of us heard of Flemming, and why do so many know about Parks?
The Alabama incident was widely covered in the media, while segregationist-controlled media ignored the South Carolina incident.
That story was told last week by Mignon Clyburn, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, during a public meeting her agency held in Atlanta on the state and future of information needs for the community. Her point was to emphasize how critical a responsible and robust media are to a community’s — and a nation’s — knowledge and ability to discuss and solve its problems.
Clyburn and fellow commissioner Michael Copps came to Atlanta to conduct the FCC’s latest of these forums. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s public editor, Shawn McIntosh, was on the panel, which included others from traditional and new media. The public was invited to join the discussion.
The FCC is arguably among the most powerful and, at times, controversial, federal agencies.
Established in 1934, its five commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. It regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. (Not newspapers, by the way, but more about that later.)
And so, the FCC has a large role and a reason to be interested in almost every part of American life.
But it’s where business meets the First Amendment that the FCC matters most. American citizens value free-speech rights above almost any other, and our country has enjoyed robust media since its birth. Media is also a big business, where companies thrive serving Americans’ information needs.
The FCC makes huge decisions about what radio and TV stations, cable companies and even mobile phone providers can do. It controls the airwaves — which are technically owned by the public but made available to media companies. Control of those airwaves gives the FCC tremendous power.
For example, it was the FCC that sought to fine CBS for the famous Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
It’s the FCC that is fighting AT&T Wireless over its attempt to acquire T-Mobile. The deal would create the nation’s largest mobile phone company, and the FCC is opposing it, citing concerns about competition.
The FCC’s road show focused on the huge changes in media over the past decade. The Internet has shaken media operations, permanently altering how we get news. Commissioners Clyburn and Copps have strong views about the responsibilities of media companies to serve the public interest and they highlighted the need for diversity in media coverage, leadership and ownership.
About 100 people attended the session at Georgia Tech. The questions and comments were wide-ranging; many focused on the need for greater access to media. (Occupy Atlanta brought a contingent to the meeting as well.)
There’s not enough space here to cover all of the concerns. One main theme was that the FCC should keep up with media changes to ensure that media serve the public good in exchange for access to the country’s airwaves.
After all, our democracy depends on well-informed citizens.
Which brings me back to news- papers.
Newspapers are not regulated by the FCC because they don’t use the public airwaves. We can thank the Founding Fathers for giving us tremendous freedom to operate and responsibility where it concerns the public good.
As new media have emerged, we’ve watched with the experienced eye of a veteran. After all, when radio came along, many predicted our demise. When television showed up, they rang our death knell too. And with the arrival of the Internet, many prepared for our burial.
But we’re still here, running those presses and using the new technology to give you stories no one else does.
And in a world of great change and frequent disagreement about how much regulating the government should do, the First Amendment gives your newspaper the freedom and responsibility to be a government watchdog. Our “regulation” comes from an even more powerful force: our readers. If we’re not serving their good, they won’t read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or buy it.
We like that sense of direct responsibility to the people we serve.
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