GOP investigating FCC media controversy

A key House Republican fears the Federal Communications Commission isn’t done with news media studies that are out of bounds.

{mosads}Rep. Greg Walden, the Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairman for Communications and Technology, worries that the FCC’s recent decision to pull a controversial study on how newsrooms decide which stories to report won’t be the end of the matter.

“I think we caught them on this one. They were well down the path before we got wind of it. They’d already hired the firm, they’d already begun the process, they’d already picked the market,” the Oregon Republican said.

Walden said he intends to pursue answers to several outstanding questions involving the “Critical Information Needs” (CIN) study.

For example, Walden wants to know why the pilot study was going to take place in Columbia, S.C., noting that then-FCC Acting Chairperson Mignon Clyburn approved the CIN study.

Mignon Clyburn is the daughter of high-ranking Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, who represents Columbia.

Neither the FCC nor Rep. Clyburn’s office commented to The Hill.