Obama's Communication Policy May Impact VI Broadcast Communication
One of President Barrack Obama's principal communications policy objectives is to "encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media . . . and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum." This has not been the case in the United States Virgin Islands where Jeffrey Prosser of Innovative Communications Corporation owned all locally produced TV stations, the local telephone company, a local cellular telephone company, all cable television stations and the local newspaper. The monopoly is ending, however, with Mr. Prosser’s ongoing bankruptcy, where the Trustee intends to sell the ICC family as a unit. While the president's website offers no more in the way of specificity, it is commonly understood to be referring to measures that would constrain further consolidation of media ownership, and enhance broadcasters' local service obligations.
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