Nicholas Johnson's Presentation: The Media Under Seige

Nicholas Johnson, a pioneering former Federal Communications Commissioner, spoke about “media under siege” and led a discussion about the current state of independent media on November 16th at First United Methodist Church in Ames. His presentation also aired November 20th on KHOI.

 

Johnson is a native Iowan who served as a controversial Federal Communications Commissioner from 1966 to 1973, where he championed independent media by advocating for citizen participation at the FCC, public access cable channels, and for community radio stations. He appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine and is listed by the Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law as one of 700 “leading figures in the history of American law, from the colonial era to the present day.”

 

Johnson held three presidential appointments and ran for Congress. He was the host of the New Tech Times TV series on public broadcasting stations, a reporter and commentator on National Public Radio, and a guest on many network and local TV and radio stations. He has taught at a number of universities and lectured internationally. He writes and blogs about media and democracy; he was publisher of Access Magazine and authored nine books, including How To Talk Back to Your Television Set, his most recent, Columns of Democracy, and a Cedar Rapids Gazette column, “The Media, Under Siege.”

 

Johnson calls himself a “lifetime Iowan” who returned from Washington DC to Iowa City. He recently retired from teaching communications and cyberlaw at the University of Iowa College of Law. Johnson was invited to Ames by KHOI Community Radio. According to KHOI Board President Cornelia Flora, “we invited him to speak because now is the time to hear from thought-leaders and Johnson is an influential figure in the history of American media democracy. He has seen the media from every perspective and has contributed to the media, changed the media, regulated the media, headed citizens' media reform organizations, and taught media law.

 

Johnson’s presentation was a benefit to support KHOI’s operations. KHOI is a locally-based nonprofit radio station for Central Iowa whose mission is to build a safer and better community through communication. It features local people, issues, events, and talent and nationally syndicated grassroots radio shows.