The accidental arbiter
FCC Chairman Michael Powell, atop an agency built to handle bandwidth and licensing, finds himself in a pivotal role for an election year: point man in a values clash over free speech and indecency.
(Page 5 of 5)
Powell maintains, too, that he does know when to lay down the law. "I have more fines and enforcement actions than any commission ever," he says. "I am the only chairman who has blocked a major merger ... in 60 years," Powell adds. "If you're a true free-market believer like I am, you're not credible unless - for the limited rules that are enforced - you're ruthless about them."
That sense of authority permeates any topic he discusses. Annemarie says her brother is a born lawyer, because he's good at arguing his side of things. One former staffer, when asked how Powell deals with being wrong, simply says, jokingly, "He's not ever been wrong."
But some critics are less lighthearted about Powell's style of communicating. "Michael Powell suffers from what the Greeks call hubris," says Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "While his father seems to be ... flexible, Powell is not."
He uses as an example Powell's refusal to hold more hearings on media ownership. "Even if he was so sure of his own analysis, at the very least he should have been willing to raise the issue and encourage debate."
Opponents of the chairman's aggressive strategy on indecency - which broadcasters say goes against a recent, more hands-off FCC trend - level a similar charge. Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers Magazine, is not impressed by Powell's appearing in Las Vegas to discuss the issue. "Did you get the impression that he was interested in changing his mind or hearing anything?' He was explaining [the FCC's] position," Mr. Harrison says.
Powell's Achilles' heel, some observers have suggested, may be that disconnect between his passion for technology and law and an understanding of the people affected by his decisions. He has been called a technocrat, and occasionally his comments can reflect that. Powell seems to imply in passing, for example, that American consumers would think to turn to the FCC's website to learn more about the dawn of digital television and what that means for their old TV sets.
In Las Vegas, he was asked what he gleans from the mountain of correspondence the FCC receives, some of it generated by advocacy groups that push write-in campaigns and distort the numbers. "I find it a very difficult and increasing challenge," he responded, "to try and understand 'Where does the public mind truly lie?' "
When Powell was named chairman, his energy and qualifications were applauded, and he worked quickly, winning congressional funds to bulk up the agency's equipment, brainpower, and training programs. Stunts like the somersault he once performed on the way to a podium at a trade show - he followed an acrobatics act - further cemented the perception that this chairman was something different, and that he would bring change.
The chairman's term is not up until 2007, though whenever the White House changes hands, the new party typically names a chairman of its own. Powell says he is not particularly comfortable talking about his legacy while still in office. But, when pressed, he again rolls out the issues that engage him the most - wireless Internet access, for example, and modern consumer benefits like portable cellphone numbers - rather than the issues he's obliged to address, like indecency.
"I like tackling the problems about the evolving world that [are] really going to shape the Information Age," he says. "And I hope ... if we do that well, then that's what's most memorable."
