Reply #1: But since the airwaves technically belong to the public...

[IrateCitizen]

... who should then determine who is able to gain access to those airwaves, considering there is a finite amount of bandwidth.

Are you comfortable with a single company owning all TV news outlets in a metropolitan area? Without the FCC, that's what you'd have.

And before you start talking about the way the internet has changed the game and all that, it's important to note that 80% of Americans STILL get ALL of their news from television. That fact makes me shudder each and every time I see the infotainment that currently passes for "news".

The FCC has been screwing the pooch lately, but that's mostly due to the incompetence and cronyism of Chairman Michael Powell. Advocating for its demise is the stuff of "libertarian" dreamers and charlatans who yield to ideology each time it comes into conflict with reality.