FCC relaxes rules on media ownership
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mon December 17, 2007
Defying powerful members of Congress, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted 3-2 to permit cross-ownership of broadcast outlets and newspapers in the same city.
"We cannot ignore the fact that the media marketplace is considerably different" today from 32 years ago when regulators restricted ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said.
The White House supports the commission's three Republicans, who say tight restrictions make little sense in a media environment transformed by the Internet, as well as pay television and radio.
:ad300x250:"Newspapers are struggling," Martin said, listing cutbacks at many newspapers. If the layoffs were to continue, "we would be less informed," he said.
"Newspaper circulation has declined year after year," agreed Commissioner Robert McDowell. At the same time, independent voices on the Internet have "surged," he said.
While Martin was able to gain the support of Republicans McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate, he could not persuade Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.
"We shed crocodile tears for the financial plight of newspapers, yet the truth is that newspaper profits are about double the S&P 500 average," Copps said.
Allowing more media consolidation will diminish local news-gathering, Adelstein argued. "An independent voice is silenced when the dominant local newspaper swallows up a broadcast outlet," he said.
In a statement released after the vote, Martin outlined steps he had taken to address the Democrats' objections, including agreeing to conduct independent studies, public hearings and other examinations of the proposed rule change. But, he said, the Democrats "have been quick to say no to whatever was proposed" without "putting forward their own ideas."
Under the new rules, cross-ownership would be permitted in each of the nation's top 20 markets, if there are at least eight media outlets in the community. If the transaction involves a television station, it could not be one of the four largest stations in that market.
Waivers for smaller markets would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The FCC action exempted 36 existing newspaper-broadcast ownership combinations that predate the ban or have gotten waivers, as well as six pending applications. Grandfathered ownerships include papers and broadcast outlets in Atlanta and Dayton, Ohio, owned by Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Newspapers and the Cox Communications cable TV company. Cox supports a loosening of media ownership rules.
The FCC vote is certain to trigger pushback. At House and Senate hearings earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers, as well as a significant number of Republicans, warned Martin not to move forward with the vote.
On Monday, a bipartisan group of 25 senators signed a letter to Martin announcing their intention to overturn the rule change.
"If you proceed to take final action on this rule on Dec. 18 without having given reasonable opportunity for comment on the actual rules and study of the related issues, we will immediately move legislation that will revoke and nullify the proposed rule," the letter reads.
The FCC's decision also could face legal challenges. After it first tried to loosen the ownership ban in 2003, the move was rejected by a federal appeals court.
The FCC has "caved in to lobbying from the media giants," Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public interest group, said in a statement.
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