“promote diversity in communication media ownership and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest.”
I do not know what the existing law in the area is but certainly the regulators must be given more guidance than merely telling them to ensure the licenses are "used in the public interest." There is simply no guidance there whatsoever. I am aware that "public interest" has been a standard for some time so I guess it is necessary to understand the existing state of the law. However, merely reciting the phrase does not seem to clarify the problem beyond what this present state of understanding is.
The second interesting question is whether "diversity" is a legitimate goal? After all, it somehow suggests that the regulator must favor applicants for licenses based on their race which, on its face, seems to be repugnant to the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Again, can the regulator select which race or which gender should be favored? the whole thing smacks of an affirmative action policy in our universities which raises constitutional questions which have not yet been fully settled. Can regulators be empowered to count noses and check their color? How many radio stations do American Indians get and should they be divided among the various tribes according to their number? Once we go down that road the devilish details come without number.
These questions would be very much more interesting if we could have confidence that they would be reviewed by a court animated only by the Constitution.
