Biography of
FCC Commissioner
Jonathan S. Adelstein
Jonathan S. Adelstein was unanimously confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission. He was originally sworn in on December 3, 2002, and sworn in for a second term on December 6, 2004.
A life-long public servant, Adelstein has dedicated his career to fighting for the public interest. As a Commissioner, his approach is guided by the key principle that the public interest means securing access to communications for everyone, including those the market may leave behind.
Adelstein is a particularly strong advocate for media diversity and localism, and works diligently to encourage increased voices on the airwaves to support a well-informed citizenry. He has worked to promote access to telecommunications and media outlets by minorities, rural and low-income consumers, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers.
To ensure that all consumers have access to the latest telecommunications systems no matter where they live, Adelstein has strived to improve universal service. He has also encouraged broadcasters to use the digital transition to better serve their communities with local, public affairs and other cultural and educational programming. He has advocated for a substantive national broadband strategy with aggressive goals and specific policy recommendations. He also has played an active role at the Commission in promoting new policies that improve access to spectrum by both large and small companies so that consumers can continue to maintain those connections in our increasingly portable world.
Adelstein has been a national leader on combating the negative effects of the increasing commercialization of American media. Most recently, he spearheaded vigorous enforcement against reported violations of federal payola rules – a payola scandal that he believes may represent the most widespread and flagrant violation of any FCC rules in the history of American broadcasting. The effort resulted in an historic settlement with a number of major radio companies that establishes strong procedures to prevent future recurrences of payola.
Before joining the Commission, Adelstein served for fifteen years as a staff member in the United States Senate. For his final seven years, he was a senior legislative aide to then United States Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), where he advised Senator Daschle on telecommunications, financial services, transportation and other key issues. Previously, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI).
Prior to his service in the Senate, Adelstein was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, Harvard University, while studying at the Kennedy School of Government. Adelstein also was a Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Stanford University where he received an M.A. in History and a B.A. with Distinction in Political Science. He also served as a Communications Consultant to the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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