“...if public convenience, interest or necessity will be served thereby...”

Nicholas Lemann says this passage from the U.S. Radio Act of 1927 motivated CBS to hire Edward R. Murrow and develop its legendary news and public affairs reputation. Mr. Lemann is Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He posits commercial broadcasters would never have touched public affairs, issues, and news without regulatory pressure, in his article, "The Murrow Doctrine," in this week's magazine. Required reading. Of course, as you know, "public interest" regulation has been dismantled in the United States. Can you tell?