New FCC Chairman

Alterman picks up on the radicalism of the new guy today in Altercation (quoting his friend, Ben Scott):

Nothing will come for a vote without [Kevin Martin's] say-so, and he’ll get to pick and choose what to do and when to do it. No individual on the planet will have more power over what’s on TV, who owns your radio station, how fast your broadband is (or whether you can get it at all), how many cell phone companies you have to choose from, and how much it all costs, than 38-year-old Kevin Martin.

[snip]

He’s been the number one advocate for the broadcasters at the Commission, except for when he’s a crusader against their indecent behavior. Needless to say, Martin has not distinguished himself as a friend of the public interest. Nor has he shown a great penchant for expanding access to new technologies to broaden the diversity of viewpoint and culture in the media system. He’s pretty much fallen in line with the talking points of the National Association of Broadcasters. All these sticky questions may explain why the White House picked him. Because he’s an FCC Commissioner already, the promotion to Chairman means he can skip the unpleasantries of a confirmation hearing in the Senate and the inconvenient questions about contradictory and failed policy decisions it might bring.[emphasis mine]

So it looks like the Bush administration is getting smart. By picking a wacko from inside the FCC already, they can more easily gloss over all the crappy decisions he's already supported by avoiding any hearings involved in confirming him.

Alterman has links to blanket coverage on this, so check it out through the above link.