Washington Watch

Will FCC Chairman Michael Powell finally let his fellow commissioners in on his long-awaited plan to speed the transition to all-digital TV? Agency protocol requires him to present the plan to them by Thursday, Jan. 20, so they can prepare for a vote in time at the next open meeting, Feb. 10. At press time, however, colleagues were clueless about his intentions.

“We could present it in a matter of days,” says Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree, adding that the document awaits Powell's OK. An FCC spokesman would not comment, and a Powell aide didn't return calls.

The commissioners, and the rest of the TV industry for that matter, want to know whether they will be asked to vote solely on a plan to accelerate the all-digital deadline to 2009 or whether they also be asked to approve other controversial measures, such as forcing cable operators to carry each of the six or so channels that local TV stations will be able to squeeze into their digital signals.

Ferree says he could include a carriage recommendation in the plan or offer one separately later. The DTV plan, in the works for a year, would require broadcasters to go all-digital and return their old analog channels to the government by 2009, years sooner than they would otherwise be required. The plan works by measuring very liberally how many American receive digital signals from their local stations.

Two local TV news operations are in hot water with the FCC for airing telephone calls after reporters failed to notify individuals they were being taped. KNOE Monroe, La., and WEWS Cleveland face fines of $10,000 and $6,000, respectively.

KNOE was sanctioned for a report about corruption among members of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury, the equivalent of a county council. Reporter Ken Booth called the home of Juror Mack Calhoun and recorded only his voice-mail message. Booth called again on Sept. 25, and Calhoun hung up after the reporter identified himself. KNOE aired Calhoun's voice-mail message and the sound of his hanging up.

WEWS was hit for a story about a claim dispute at MedMutual insurance company. The station aired a company spokesman's refusal to conduct an on-camera interview.

Kathleen Kirby, outside counsel to the Radio-Television News Directors Association, says the ban is one more example of broadcasters' second-class status relative to print reporters.

Following revelations that the Bush administration paid conservative commentator and columnist Armstrong Williams to tout the president's “No Child Left Behind” program, a citizens' watchdog group is trying make 22 federal agencies disclose whether they used public-relations firms to set up similar contracts.

“How extensively has the administration used propaganda to shore up its controversial policies?” asked Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-profit group dedicated to holding public officials to high standards of behavior. “Did it pay any commentators to speak out in support of the Patriot Act? Is it paying anyone now to convince the public that Social Security is in crisis?”

FCC Chairman Michael Powell, in response to calls for a review, has asked the agency's Enforcement Bureau to investigate whether the ban on payola was violated during the Williams episode.

Johanna Mikes Shelton, media advisor to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, is becoming Democratic counsel to the House Commerce Committee. She replaces Gregg Rothschild, who has signed on as a lobbyist for Verizon.