Who's watching the watchdog

The Spinning Door: This refers to the fact that their are many former industry executives and lawyers who then go and work for the FCC and vice versa. This means that the people who are making the policies to regulate these industries once worked for them, meaning that it is possible that they will not do a fair and unbiased job. If someone was the head of a company, and then left that company to work for the FCC he will probablly try to help them out as much as he can even if its at the expense of public interest. Also, if someone from the FCC, then goes to work for a large company, it is likely that they will use their inside knowledge and pull to benefit his new company. With so much controversy still existing especially over consolidation of owvership it is a bit concerning to know that the very companies who need to be regulate could potentially have so much influence with the FCC.

Frequent Flyers: This has to do with the fact that the FCC excepts money from outside sources espcially in the form of free travel and entertainment. The report "On the Road Again- and Again," found that the FCC had accepted nearly $2.8 million from outrside sources over an eight year period. This was during Michael Powell's tenure and is especially troubling because he was a huge proponent of deregualtion, which favors the large media conglomerates, and at the same time he and fellow FCC members are accepting gifts from these same media giants. I guess that's just how America works; so much for serving the interests of the public.

Behind close doors: This part describes how many FCC meetings take place "behind close doors" in which they are not recorded and minutes are not taken. This causes me to be suspicious as to why they do this and what exactly takes place at these meetings. While these meetings aren't ilegal, it still makes you wonder if there perhaps some type of corrupt dealings taking place.

As far as if anything has happened since 2003 to change how the FCC works, if not entirely sure but I do feel that corporate consolidation is definitely still a problem as fewer companies continue to have more power and influence. I hope that the FCC will be able to step up and do what is best for the public, and what better time than now, during the era of "Change" that Obama is sure to usher in, or at least we hope he does.