The Federal Communications Commission, at the urging of Chair Kevin Martin, voted 3-2 on Tuesday to relax longstanding rules that block corporations from owning a broadcast TV station and a newspaper in the same city.
At the same time, the Commission also voted 3-2 to impose a 30 percent national audience cap on cable companies. Both votes were along party lines, with Republican commissioners Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell supporting Martin, also a Republican, and Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein opposing the proposals.
In a statement released following the vote, Martin said that his proposals are designed to promote “competition, diversity, and localism.”
“I believe a vibrant print press,” Martin said, “is one of the institutional pillars upon which our free society is built. In their role as watchdog and informer of the citizenry, newspapers often act as a check on the power of other institutions and are the voice of the people. Allowing cross-ownership may help to forestall the erosion in local news coverage by enabling companies to share these local news gathering costs across multiple media platforms.”
Reactions Opposing the Rules
Consumer advocacy and media watchdog groups believe that Martin has actually ignored the voice of the people on this issue. “The FCC has defied will of people and Congress in its rush to push through these new regulations,” argued Jen Howard, assistant communications director for Free Press, a nonpartisan media reform group.
“Hundreds of thousands of people filed statements in opposition to the proposed changes,” said Howard, “and at the eight hearings held by the FCC around the country, the vast majority spoke against greater media consolidation.”
The FCC vote is also getting a cool reaction on Capitol Hill. Four days before the FCC’s votes, a bipartisan group of 26 U.S. Senators sent a letter to Martin, protesting the fact that…