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From Broadcast to Broadband: Policy Silences in the "Compromise and Consensus" of Industry Capture

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Through a narrative policy framework (NPF) analysis, we compare official White House press releases from Bill Clinton's 1996 Telecommunications Act, and Joe Biden's 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).Our purpose is to identify similarities and differences in the way the two administrations, 25 years apart, addressed issues pertaining to telecommunication regulation.This analysis reveals major distinctions between how the acts were framed, specifically in terms of who was responsible for the policy problem being addressed.Most significant was the shift from clearly addressing media consolidation as a threat (in the 1996 Act), to avoiding any mention of the increasingly consolidated media industry (in 2021).We reflect on these distinctions through Des Freedman's notion of 'policy silences'-the omissions of policy discussions-as they relate to contradictions between normative democratic theory and the role of private interests in US policymaking.In March 2020, as stay at home orders to reduce the spread of Covid-19 stifled 'normal' American life, conversations on the need for accessible high speed broadband internet as a public good in 21 st century life began to crop up in mainstream discussions (Kang, 2020).In an increasingly partisan political culture, the shared sense that accessible broadband for all was needed bridged the divide.Taking advantage of this rare bipartisan consensus and framing, President Biden's newly elected administration passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021.It included the nation's single largest investment in broadband accessibility, a whopping US$65 billion allocated to providing greater access to high-speed internet, largely through broadband deployment and lowincome subsidies.As a part of what President Biden described as the "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law", the broadband initiative was described in official White house press releases as providing equal access, greater choice and agency to consumers.It would, they stressed, help unify the nation
Authors: Forde, Sydney L, Jordan, Matthew F
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7036135442
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