President Clinton has recognized the pivotal role broadcasters will play in the digital age by creating the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. This body, popularly known as the Gore Commission, will report to Vice President Gore with recommendations on which public interest obligations should accompany broadcasters' receipt of digital television licenses.

The Media Institute recognizes that this undertaking could have a profound impact on the future of broadcasting. Accordingly, we are today creating our own study group, to be known as The Media Institute's Public Interest Council.

The goal of the Public Interest Council will be to help further the development of sound public policy by taking part in the dialogue advanced by the Gore Commission. The Public Interest Council will serve as an informed voice, making available the Institute's two decades of communications policy expertise. The Council may also serve as a sounding board, reflecting on and reacting to policy initiatives suggested by the Gore Commission at various steps along the way.

Our Public Interest Council will take an active part in the process, submitting comments, testifying, participating in discussion groups, and providing views and information at the pleasure of the Gore Commission. Meanwhile, the Council will be considering the public interest question independently, and may publish articles or papers or convene symposia in light of its research.

By way of background, the public interest standard governing broadcasting originated early in this century with the birth and initial development of the broadcast industry. Comprehensive government regulation was thought necessary to bring order to the confusion and chaos that reigned on the airwaves in the 1920s. At that time radio technology was not well understood nor was the import of this new mass medium well appreciated. First Amendment jurisprudence also was in its infancy. At the end of the 20th century all this has changed most dramatically.

We therefore urge the Gore Commission to begin with first principles in the context of the communications revolution we are experiencing. We believe the primary issues must include the current justification for different standards of regulation of the print and broadcast industries, and how specific current or proposed regulations follow from the asserted justifications. As the Supreme Court has noted, the public interest standard necessarily invites reference to First Amendment principles. The Media Institute's Public Interest Council is poised to play a helpful and constructive role in this deliberative process.

Council members
We have assembled a distinguished group of experts to serve on the Public Interest Council. They include Robert Corn-Revere, Esq., an attorney with Hogan & Hartson in Washington who specializes in communications law and regulatory matters; Prof. Robert M. O'Neil, former president of the University of Virginia and founding director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Va.; J. Laurent Scharff, Esq., communications attorney and former general counsel of the Radio-Television News Directors Association; and Prof. Laurence H. Winer, a professor of law at the Arizona State University College of Law at Tempe who specializes in media law and constitutional law. Other experts may be invited to join as time goes on.

Also participating on the Council will be key members of The Media Institute's staff, including President Patrick D. Maines, Vice President Richard T. Kaplar, and Technology Director Alan Moseley.

About the Institute
The Media Institute is uniquely situated to convene a group such as the Public Interest Council. Founded in 1979, the Institute is a nonprofit research foundation specializing in communications policy and First Amendment issues. The Institute exists to advocate and encourage freedom of speech, a competitive communications industry, and excellence in journalism.

The Media Institute pursues a program agenda that encompasses virtually all sectors of the media, ranging from traditional print and broadcast outlets to contemporary entrants such as cable, satellites, and interactive networks. The Institute publishes books and monographs, prepares regulatory filings and court briefs, convenes conferences, and hosts speakers at a Washington luncheon series.

Since its inception, The Media Institute has been an independent advocate of a robust press and a dynamic communications industry. The organization has evolved into one of the country's leading think tanks focusing on the First Amendment and communications policy.

Conclusion
The Media Institute looks forward to participating in the Gore Commission's reexamination of the public interest standard as broadcasters move into the digital era. We hope that our Public Interest Council is able to play a useful role in helping to develop sound policy for the broadcast industry as a continuing vital component of electronic mass media in the 21st century.