President Obama: Names Black Woman as FCC Commissioner

UPDATED August 4, 2009:Add the name Mignon Clyburn to the lists of “firsts” this year. She has officially become the first female African-American commissioner of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) after being sworn in today, according to South Carolina’s WIStv.com. If her last name looks familiar it’s because he father James Clyburn is a well known Washington Congressman.

As the head of the FCC, Clyburn is responsible for regulating the radio, television and cable industries.-WLW

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May 1, 2009: President Obama has named Mignon Clyburn as a commissioner to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to a statement from the White House.

The FCC is an agency in charge of regulating television, radio, satellite, cable, and telegraph communications in the United States. There are five commissioners in total who are all appointed directly by the President for a five year term. As a commissioner, Clyburn will be instrumental in renewing or declining licenses to broadcasting stations as well as issuing fines (like in the infamous Superbowl XXXVIII incident with Janet Jackson.)

Clyburn was a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a weekly newspaper in Charleston. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.-WLW