What a difference a week makes. President Biden has appointed Jessica Rosenworcel as acting chair of the Federal Communications Commission, only the second time a woman has held the post. This signals the beginning of a new agenda at the Commission – though currently evenly split down party lines – and Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota is here to help us read the tea leaves.

But that doesn’t mean the legacy of the old FCC is gone yet. Just one day before the inauguration, the agency was in front of the Supreme Court petitioning to get out of its nearly-two-decade Groundhog’s Day of repeatedly failing to properly revisit and revise media ownership rules. Although many press reports concluded that the justices were more sympathetic to the FCC’s arguments, Prof. Terry isn’t so sure, and tells us why. He also itemized some other important issues – like Network Neutrality – that the Commission will likely have to deal with in the coming year.

Show Notes

* Commissioner Rosenworcel’s podcast is “Broadband Conversations“* Broadcasting and Cable says: “government attorneys and broadcasters were likely not unhappy with the tenor of the questioning” when the FCC was in front of the Supreme Court* Podcast #277 – How Does the FCC Solve Anything?* Podcast #281 – Wrapping Up Section 230 & the VOA* Podcast #265 – Inside the “Little Known” Voice of America and the U.S. Agency for Global Media* Leadership Changes at U.S. Agency for Global Media and Voice of America