FCC Chairman Michael Powell To Resign In March.

After four years of crusading against broadcast indecency and rolling back limits on media ownership, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell said he would step down from the post in March. No successor has been named.

Powell’s tenure was marked by an intense aversion to what he considered the tight regulation of telecommunications on one hand–but on the other, he vigorously backed unprecedented fines against broadcast indecency. The son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who also is leaving the Bush administration, said he had completed a ‘”bold and aggressive agenda” and that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two sons.

The highlight–or lowlight, depending on your viewpoint–of his term as FCC chief was the severe penalties handed down on broadcast indecency that began before the notorious “wardrobe malfunction” during singer Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl halftime performance last February.

The FCC claimed to have received more than 1 million indecency complaints last year, most of them involving the Jackson situation. CBS is still contesting a proposed FCC fine of $550,000 for the incident. Fines for indecent programming exceeded $7.7 million last year, a huge increase from the $48,000 imposed the year before Powell became chairman.

“It’s the most uncomfortable area you’d ever want to work in, enforcement,” Powell said of indecency fines at a July 2004 symposium. ”I’m a big believer in the First Amendment, but often I’m incredibly uneasy about lines we have to draw. No one takes pleasure in trying to decide whether this potty-mouth word or that potty-mouth word is a violation of the law.”

No show produced more FCC fines than that of raunchy radio personality Howard Stern, who last October confronted Powell in a surprise phone call while the FCC chairman was a guest on KGO-AM radio in San Francisco.

Stern accused Powell of using the FCC to curtail free speech on radio and TV. Powell denied that he or the commission “had made any particular crusade of the Howard Stern show or you.”

At least one industry official had something nice to say about the chairman, as a statement issued by NAB President and CEO Edward O. Fritts said: “I have personally enjoyed working with Michael Powell for eight years. While we have shared occasional policy differences, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the intellect, passion, and good humor that he brings to the job. Michael will succeed in whatever endeavors are ahead, and we look forward to working with him as he transitions to his next challenge.”

By David Kaplan
Courtesy of http://www.mediapost.com

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