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Fcc receives trips from lobbyists { May 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24446-2003May22.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24446-2003May22.html FCC Receives Trips From Lobbyists By DAVID HO The Associated Press Thursday, May 22, 2003; 5:14 AM WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission officials have taken more than 2,500 trips in the last eight years, most of them paid for by the telecommunications and broadcasting industries the agency regulates, a watchdog group said. The Center for Public Integrity report, based on records from the federal Office of Government Ethics, details trips worth more than $250 taken by agency commissioners and staff between May 1995 and February 2003. The total cost of the trips was $2.8 million. Most trips were paid by industry sponsors so officials could attend conventions, conferences and trade shows. Others were paid for by universities and technical associations. The report being released Thursday said all the trips appear to be legal under government guidelines. Other agencies also routinely accept travel and entertainment gifts. "It reveals more than ever before just how incestuous the relationship is between the FCC and the broadcasting and cable industries it is supposed to regulate," said Charles Lewis, director of the center. FCC spokesman David Fiske said the trips are meant to be educational and are reviewed internally to make sure they are ethical. Fiske said the shows and conferences help officials stay current on technology they regulate. "Commissioners and the staff feel it is important to be able to get outside the Beltway and get lots of information from a wide variety of groups with a wide variety of viewpoints," he said. The report said the top destination for FCC officials - with 330 trips - was Las Vegas, the site of many industry conventions, including the annual meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters. NAB was the largest industry sponsor of FCC trips, spending $191,472 to bring 206 agency officials to its events, the report said. "It is only reasonable that Washington policy-makers would want to attend NAB conventions to learn everything they can about the businesses they regulate," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said. The FCC is scheduled to vote June 2 on a plan to make broad changes to the rules governing ownership of newspapers and TV and radio stations. FCC Chairman Michael Powell and the two other Republicans on the commission favor loosening regulations, an outcome sought by many large media companies that say the rules are outdated. The NAB has been lobbying to keep existing media ownership rules, particularly one that prevents a single company from owning TV stations that reach more than 35 percent of U.S. households. The Center for Public Integrity takes no position on the ownership review. Other top destinations for FCC officials were New Orleans, New York and London. On some occasions officials stayed at high-priced hotels such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas, said Bob Williams, senior writer at the center. Of the traveling FCC officials, Powell ranked No. 5 with 44 trips - 30 as a commissioner and 14 as chairman. The value of those trips was about $85,000. His most expensive was a weeklong seminar in Aspen, Colo., costing $6,200 and paid for by the Aspen Institute, a think tank. The other four commissioners took far fewer trips. Powell has been on the commission since 1997, while the others joined more recently. The top trip-taker at the agency is Roy Stewart, chief of the FCC's Office of Broadcast License Policy and former chief of the FCC's media bureau, which makes recommendations to the commissioners on the media ownership rules. Stewart took 107 trips worth about $76,000. Most were sponsored by state broadcaster associations. The Center for Public Integrity has created a 65,000-record, searchable database with information on ownership of virtually every radio and TV station, cable network and phone company. --- On the Net: Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov Center for Public Integrity: http://www.openairwaves.org/telecom/report.aspx?aid15 © 2003 The Associated Press

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