NEWS                                                            May 8, 1997
             GRETCHEN RUBIN TO BECOME COUNSEL TO CHAIRMAN; 
                     JULIUS GENACHOWSKI TO LEAVE FCC

    Chairman Hundt has announced that his Chief Counsel, Julius Genachowski, will soon leave
the
Commission and that Gretchen Rubin will become Counsel to the Chairman.

      Genachowski came to the Commission in 1994 as Special Counsel to General Counsel
William
E. Kennard.  He became Counsel to Chairman Hundt in March 1995 and Chief Counsel to the
Chairman in December 1996.  Prior to the Commission, Genachowski served as a law clerk to
Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., and Chief
Judge
Abner Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  He has
also
worked for the House of Representatives Committee investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, for
Representative Charles E. Schumer, and for former CBS News President Fred Friendly.

    At the FCC, Genachowki was responsible at various times for mass media, cable, wireless and
international issues.  Chairman Hundt said:

     "Julius has been the brains behind our best ideas and the brawn for our heavy lifting.  He
helped
repeal outdated broadcast rules like fin/syn and PTAR.  He helped replace rules that weren't
working
with those that would, like our 3-hour children's educational TV rule.  And we let him leave the
Commission only after he helped devise and adopt our framework for digital television -- one
that
relies on the market, ensures competition and preserves and promotes the public interest.  

     "His contributions in the international area will be long lasting.  One example: Thanks to
Julius,
we will see the Commission become more active in promoting the licensing of multiple,
independent
broadcasters abroad.  Julius also found time to build better bridges between the Commission and
the
academy, and he was a uniquely effective recruiter of first-rate legal talent.

     "Julius has been a gifted and marvelous counsel, and a good friend.  He has sacrificed a great
deal to remain at the Commission as long as he has.  I want to publicly express my great
appreciation
for his wisdom and hard work for me, the Commission and the American public."

      Upon Genachowski's departure, Gretchen Rubin will become Counsel to the Chairman. 
Rubin
came to the Commission in 1995 as Special Advisor to Mass Media Bureau Chief Roy Stewart. 
Before coming to the Commission, she served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sandra
Day
O'Connor and Judge Pierre Leval, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  She also served as
Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal.  Chairman Hundt said:

      "Gretchen has been the Commission's not-so-secret weapon for some time.  She is brilliant
and
indefatigable, and you will find her to be the impossible dream come true: she is a worthy
successor
to Julius."
                                  - FCC -