"The FCC will not move forward with the Critical Information Needs study," an FCC spokesperson said in a statement. "The Commission will reassess the best way to fulfill its obligation to Congress to identify barriers to entry into the communications marketplace faced by entrepreneurs and other small businesses."
The brief statement was put out late Friday afternoon. But it indicated the study in its current form was being killed off for good, amid threats by Republican lawmakers to eliminate it.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, a vocal critic of the plan, said Friday he was "pleased" by the decision.
The study as originally proposed would have sent researchers into American newsrooms across the country to ask what critics called intrusive questions about editorial judgment and practices.
It shelved a proposed pilot study and made clear that this and any future studies would not involve interviews with "media owners, news directors or reporters."
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