FCC CHIEF HONORED BY NEWS DIRECTORS

Mark S. Fowler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has received the Distinguished Service Award of the Radio-Television News Directors Assn.

Accepting the award for his support of First Amendment freedoms for electronic journalists, Fowler pledged there will be no erosion of those rights under his chairmanship. He said the FCC will refuse to raise its eyebrows, even a little bit, to chill a broadcaster’s free press and free speech rights.

Fowler rejected complaints from those who want the FCC to regulate what they can see and hear over the airwaves. “Change the station,” he said. “That is how . . . the First Amendment works.”