In culmination of its work over the last year, the FCC Working Group on the Information Needs of Communities delivered a report on June 9, 2011 addressing the rapidly changing media landscape in a broadband age. In 2009, a bipartisan Knight Commission found that while the broadband age is enabling an information and communications renaissance, local communities in particular are being unevenly served with critical information about local issues.

Soon after the Knight Commission delivered its findings, the FCC initiated a staff-level working group to identify crosscurrent and trend, and make recommendations on how the information needs of communities can be met in a broadband world.

• Read the Report
• Download the Report
• Related Material

Download the Full Report (5 MB) or Download by Chapter

Executive Summary & Overview

Part One — The Media Landscape

Commercial Media

1. Newspapers
2. Radio
3. TV
4. Internet
5. Mobile

Nonprofit Media

6. Public Broadcasting
7. Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) Access Channels
8. C-SPAN and State Public Affairs Networks
9. Satellite
10. Low Power FM
11. Religious Broadcasting
12. Nonprofit Websites
13. Foundations
14. Journalism Schools
15. The Evolving Nonprofit Media

Non-Media Players

16. Government Transparency
17. Emergency Information
18. Libraries
19. Schools

Key Cross Cutting Issues

20. News Consumption
21. Types of News
22. The Media Food Chain and the Functions of Journalism
23. Diversity
24. People with Disabilities
25. How Big is the Gap and Who Will Fill It?

Part Two – The Policy and Regulatory Landscape

26. Broadcast Radio and Television
27. Cable Television
28. Satellite Television and Radio
29. The Internet and Mobile
30. Ownership
31. Nonprofit media
32. Advertising Policy
33. Print
34. Copyright and Intellectual Property

Part Three – Recommendations

35. Recommendations
36. Footnotes
37. Acknowledgments

Related Material

Launch Events

• The Impact of Technology on the Information Landscape of Communities
• June 2011 Open Commission Meeting

Background Documents

• News Release
• Chairman Genachowski Remarks at Columbia School of Journalism, NY
• Chairman Genachowski's Statement
• Commissioner Copps' Statement
• Commissioner McDowell's Statement
• Commissioner Clyburn's Statement
• Fact Sheet

Blog

• Media Literacy in the Digital Age
• A Collection of Studies on the Future of Media
• From the Public Comments: Should the FCC Lift Restrictions on Underwriting for Religious Broadcasters?
• ...More from the Blog

Workshops

• Arizona Field Event - October 3, 2011
• Public and Other Noncommercial Media in the Digital Era
• The Future of Media & Information Needs of Communities: Serving the Public Interest in the Digital Era

Discussion

• Share stories about media in your community
• What government policies could improve the news and information media?
• How should media companies change their approach to delivering news and information?