http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v71/digital.htm Digital Television, Convergence, and the Public: Another Digital Divide? by Jason Smith George Mason University Introducing DTV A primary goal of the digital television (DTV) transition for the government is to reclaim airwave space that broadcasters use to provide current analog television signals. Due to the "virtual explosion" of wireless applications, there is a concern that future airwave needs will not be met (GAO 2005). By switching to digital, broadcasters will be able to make better use of their allotted airwave space – where several digital channels can be transmitted in the same amount of space that one analog channel previously could. This is expected to free up the crowded airwaves so that they could be used more for the public good. Jeffery Hart (2004) coins the term "digitalism" to stand for the ideological belief in the superiority that digital technologies have over analog. As such, viewers could expect better cultural programming, better quality in picture and sound of the program they are viewing, and the government using the extra airwave space for emergency services (such as police and fire services), even though only channels above 52 will be freed. While it sounds like DTV is a marvelous solution to freeing up airwave space and providing the public with better programming, that is not quite the whole picture. Originally slated to stop airing analog television signals on February 17, 2009, the transition has now been delayed until June 12, 2009 – due to the unpreparedness of both the government and the broadcasters to adequately prepare the public. Napoli (2003) argues that in all the discussions that policy makers had leading up to the transition of DTV, issues of the public interest have fallen off their "radar screens." In 1997, the Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters examined and reassessed how broadcast television could better contribute to American political and cultural life, recommending that commercial broadcasters should demonstrate a minimum commitment to public affairs programming – especially those which were produced locally and/or addressed local interest and concerns (Napoli 2003, 2001). However, this emphasis on the