A woman for FCC chair

In a recent letter to the White House, the Women’s Media Center urged President Obama to consider a woman for the chair of the Federal Communications Commission. As the group points out, “Never in the 80 years of the FCC has a woman of any race or group been its chair, though women have been the nation's majority for a long time.”

Such a pick – the first woman to head the FCC – would be historic and “would go far to making women more visible and powerful in the media and technology.”

A female chair might help correct a sector imbalance. Right now, “Women hold only 6 percent of all TV and radio station licenses and under one-third of TV news directors are women. Of top executives working for technology companies just over 5 percent are women.”

But the choice of FCC chair is not merely about gender inequality. The U.S. needs a communications head that will give priority to job-creating investment and consumer protection.

At present, women figure strongly among the possible candidates for the job. Mentioned have been FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, Obama policy advisor and public interest advocate Karen Kornbluh, and California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Venture capitalist and former communications industry lobbyist Tom Wheeler and the White House Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, Larry Strickling are also both in the running.

Rosenworcel got a boost when President Obama received a letter from one-third of the members of the Senate – including Rosenworcel’s former boss, Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller – recommending her for the job.

In addition, more than 25 organizations – including public interest, media reform, and community groups – signed a letter to the president, “urging him to choose a strong public interest advocate to become chairperson of the Federal Communication Commission.”

The Women’s Media Center is circulating an online petition, “The President Should Nominate a Woman to be Chair of the Federal Communications Commission.” In any case, join Speed Matters and contact the White House to make sure that we get an FCC head who will back jobs and strong consumer advocacy.

Letter to President Obama (Women’s Media Center, Mar. 22, 2013)

Senate Democrats back Rosenworcel for FCC chief (The Hill, Mar. 27, 2013)

Letter to the President Regarding the FCC Chair Nomination (New America Foundation, Mar. 27, 2013)

Petition for Woman FCC Chair (change.org)