[IRCA] Tom Shales' view of Michael Powell

["Robert Foxworth" <rfoxwor1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Powell Exposed! The FCC Chairman has No Clothes --

So writes Tom Shales, a media critic, in the Washington
Post yesterday (Sunday 21 Nov.) on the first page of
the Arts section.  Shales, a critic even I have known
of for many years, does a lengthy piece critical of
the FCC Chairman. I was up in the DC area yesterday and
found the article in the local print edition of the WP.

Perhaps it is on line, I don't know, and it is somewhat
lengthy, but I'll pass on a few excerpts from Shales'
column for our collective wisdom.

"Staying in office, however, and capable of wreaking
havoc in American broadcasting until 2007, is Colin's
son Michael... and definitely not a force for good in
America."

"Pompous and imperious, an ideologue who believes
unfailingly in his own philosophy of how TV and radio
should work... Powell ignores or condemns anyone who
opposes him. ... he's the Torquemada of the insane
campaign now being waged against "obscenity" on the
airwaves."

"The fines [for obscenity charges] don't really
compromise Powell's credentials as a pro-industry
man, a dilettante who invariably sides with the
moneyed minions of Big Broadcasting on the major
issues, the ones likely to have the most lasting
effects."

" 'Arrogant' is the adjective used most often in
any discussion of Powell and the way he pushes his
personal agenda, an extension of the fanatical
deregulation that gathered steam under Ronald Reagan's
FCC chairman, a reckless loudmouth named Mark Fowler."

"Critics consider him so egotistical that he will not
listen or give any credence to the arguments of
others. He has a master plan in his head for what
American broadcasting should be. ... 'The Public be
Damned' ".

"Powell belongs at the bottom of the barrel with the
lowliest of the bunch. He is an agenda masquerading as
a man, the proverbial pompous ass and, worse, a genuine
threat to freedom of speech. But on CNBC, he was
playing Santa Claus. "I am still having fun", he said
merrily, as if that were part of the job. ... Right now,
I have no plans of going anywhere".

"That's the problem. If he were looking for places to
go, I could suggest one in a snap. But it's a four-
letter word, and who knows, I might end up in jail."

- Tom Shales, in the Washington Post





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