Senator Boxer Releases Hitherto Unknown FCC Draft Reports; Martin Promises Investigation Into Why They Were Not Released

Senator Barbara Boxer has released two FCC reports that were apparently shelved, and FCC head Kevin Martin has indicated he will investigate why they were never released. In a letter Martin sent to Boxer, he told her he had asked the FCC’s inspector general to find out what had happened. Said Martin, “As with the previous study, I was not Chairman at the time this report was drafted. I had not seen–nor was I aware of–this draft report before you brought it to my attention. No one on my staff had seen this report nor were they aware of it. I want to assure you that I too am concerned about what happened to these two draft reports. I have asked the Inspector General of the FCC to conduct an investigation into what happened to these draft documents and will cooperate fully with him.”

In an earlier letter regarding the 2004 report he had said, “As I indicated at the hearing, I was not Chairman at the time that this report was drafted. I had not seen–nor was I aware of–this draft report before you brought it to my attention. No one on my staff had seen this report nor were they aware of it. I am not aware of any other commissioners, past or present, who knew of the report. It is unclear why this report was never released to the public. I am attempting to determine why, but the senior management of the Media Bureau and the Chairman of the Commission at the time are no longer at the Commission.”

The two reports, one entitled “Do Local Owners Deliver More Localism? Some Evidence From Local Broadcast News” and dated 2004 and the other entitled “Review of the Radio Industry” and dated 2003 are now available on the FCC’s website.

Read more here in an AP story.