Former FCC Commissioner takes helm of MAP, Andy Schwartzman stepping down

Media Access Project announced that former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown will become its new president starting April 1.

Brown will succeed Andrew Jay Schwartzman, who has served as the public interest group's president for three decades. Schwartzman will continue to serve as Senior Vice President and Policy Director for MAP.

Schwartzman has been a well-known member of the public interest community in Washington, most recently testifying before several congressional committees in opposition of the proposed mega-merger of Comcast and NBC Universal.

Brown served on the FCC during the Carter Administration and has also worked at prominent DC law firms including Wiley Rein and Steptoe & Johnson. He also participated in several telecom and media start-ups, including co-founding DC's first cable TV system.

He was also involved in the relaunch of Iridium, the mobile satellite system, after it emerged from bankruptcy.  He's also taught journalism ethics courses at Duke University.

“I plan to concentrate on expanding MAP’s sources of funding and, substantively, on highlighting and combating structural barriers to objective news reporting and on supporting optimal and ubiquitous access to the Internet by all demographics," Brown said in a statement. "Both of these values are absolutely critical for our civil democracy.”

Brown is former chairman of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and a director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.