A new Congressional report charges FCC chairman Kevin Martin with “egregious abuses of power” during his nearly four years at the helm. In the 110-page report, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who helped lead the inquiry into Martin’s leadership style, faults him for the FCC's “dysfunctional” climate.

While it doesn’t appear that Martin broke any rules or laws, the probe levels some damning criticism. As Portfolio observes, he’s accused of manipulating reports that conflicted with his agenda. In one instance, he allegedly altered the conclusions of a report to Congress on à la carte cable pricing; in another, he drew on questionable data to justify increased oversight of the cable industry, and suppressed the study after it was rejected by other FCC commissioners.

Martin is also blamed for fostering an atmosphere of "fear and intimidation" at the Commission. Workers complained of a lack of transparency in decision making, extreme micromanagement, and retaliation for dissent. Last March, some FCC employees wore black in a silent protest against what they viewed as an increasingly bitter, politicized work environment.

Martin is expected the leave the FCC when Obama assumes the presidency, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), another head to the investigation, says Martin has left the new chairman “a blueprint of what not to do” in the future. Free Press hopes to involve the public in the conversation. They’ve organized a site where you can vote on the issues you’d like to see the Commission tackle, and the organization will present the results to Obama’s FCC transition team in the coming months. Also check out "Big Media Meets Its Match," a 2007 Utne feature on FCC commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, either of whom could be appointed to replace Martin. 

At a forum I attended this weekend, everyone generally agreed that the internet is the most effective mass-communication tool in the history of mankind. Now it’s up to journalists (including citizen journalists) to figure out how to use it. The event, called “Life After Newspapers,” was organized the Twin Cities Media Alliance and attended by the media reform organization Free Press and was held in the Minneapolis downtown public library.*

Most of the people agreed that it’s currently possible to bring more worthwhile stories and voices to more people than ever before. Janis Lane-Ewart, executive director of the excellent community radio station KFAI, talked about bringing women and minorities into the media landscape. Her work seems like an uphill battle, but she spoke of a coming generation of media savvy voices, poised to change the face of news.

Not everyone was as optimistic about the power of young people to save the media. Nora Paul, director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota, spoke about the lack of skepticism displayed by many of her students. She said she was struck by how many people passively swallow the information they find on the internet without asking the important questions: Who is writing this, what are they telling me, and why do they know what they know? Great journalism isn’t going to stop well-funded spin experts from sending out lies and half-truths over the internet, and without a healthy dose of skepticism, that information can be dangerous.

With everyone talking about where great journalism will to come from, Steve Perry of the blog the Daily Mole, posed a hypothetical: Maybe it won’t come at all. With a heaping mound of cynicism, Perry suggested that good journalism might simply cease to be.

Robert McChesney, the keynote speaker and one of the nation’s premier media experts, struck a middle ground between the optimism and the pessimism surrounding the state of the media. McChesney walked a fine line between realizing the threats to the media and telling people that the threats can be overcome.  Local blogger Paul Schmeltzer has posted an interview with McChesney over at the Minnesota Monitor.

McChesney’s point is basically this: There are huge threats to free speech, independent media, and information in general. But that doesn’t mean people should give up. The organization he founded, Free Press, has won significant battles for independent media lately. McChesney said he sincerely believes that independent media is winning and will win the fight for net neutrality. Concerned citizens simply need to step up and make their voices heard.

—Bennett Gordon

For more on the fight for media reform, read Keith Goetzman’s piece Big Media Meets Its Match from the July / August issue of Utne Reader.

* Correction: The event was organized by the Twin Cities Media Alliance, not the Free Press as originally reported.