The FCC Inspector General said evidence uncovered in an investigation did not substantiate allegations that two draft research reports of staff economists in the Media Bureau had been suppressed by senior managers at the agency or that senior managers had ordered one of the reports to be destroyed.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin asked the IG to look into these matters a year ago after several senators and representatives urged the review. During a hearing, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., waved a draft internal FCC report on radio ownership that she indicated had been squashed. The senators also asked the IG to investigate whether it was, or had been, a pattern or practice of anyone in senior commission management to suppress similar information.
The Inspector General found no evidence that there had ever been a pattern or practice of suppressing research at the commission, according to the FCC. The agency subsequently made the reports available on its Web site.
(Radio World)
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