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Senate, FCC Chairman Spar Over Media Consolidation

Land-grab attitude permeates Washington as elections loom

by Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 9, 2007 

Martin has been strongly pushing for the FCC to review its study of media ownership rules and make changes by Dec. 18th, a move which roused criticism from media watchdogs, minority rights groups, and consumer activists.

They claim Martin is moving too fast and pushing rules changes to ensure major corporations and businesses could own multiple media outlets in the same region. Cross-outlet ownership in the same region has generally been prohibited by current rules, although there are numerous exceptions.

Rupert Murdoch, set to take over The Wall Street Journal, might have to sell The New York Post if the rules aren't relaxed. Although many media monoliths, including Tribune Co., have successfully won exemptions from cross-ownership rules, the big boys would like to have a freer hand.

At a rally in Washington, D.C. protesting Martin's move on the media ownership rules, FreePress.net executive director Josh Silver said that “We are gravely concerned that Chairman Martin would try to secretly move on such a critical issue with such a short timetable."

“The public is being shut out of the process so that Martin can move forward with his Big Media giveaway," Silver said.

Martin's plan led Senators such as Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to call on the Senate Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on the effects of media consolidation in markets and whether or not the plans are taking public wishes into account sufficiently.

Cooling-off period

Dorgan and Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) co-sponsored a bill that would impose a 90-day period for public comment on any legislation involving media ownership rules, and a separate set of hearings on how media consolidation affects local news coverage, with its own 90-day comment period.

The bill, cosponsored by Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Kerry (D-MA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA, also would require the FCC to establish a panel to investigate female and minority media ownership in the United States and provide accurate statistics that the FCC must consider before acting on any rules changes.

"We believe localism and diversity of media ownership is vital in a democracy," Dorgan said. "Our bill recognizes the importance of a wide range of media owners and local content, and requires a process that does not rush past those concerns to open the gates for even more consolidation of media ownership."

"Communities count on getting their local news from their locally-owned television stations and weekly and daily newspapers," Lott said. "They know 'locally-owned' means they're invested in their communities and care about their well-being."

Land grab?

Insiders claim that Martin's rush to institute the new rules is motivated by his political leanings. Martin, a Republican, is said to be concerned that if a Democrat wins the Presidency in the 2008 election, and Democrats pick up more seats in Congress, that the political environment may be even more unfavorable to any legislation that favors corporate consolidation of media outlets.

"Thus the land-rush fervor to let big media grab all it can before the new sheriff comes to town," said one longtime Washington operative.

"Big business has had the field to itself for the last seven years and there's now a feeling of desperation in the air -- sort of a get-it-before-they-nail-it-down attitude," he said.

The Seattle hearing is the last of six Martin convened for public discussion of the proposed changes to media ownership rules. The hearing was announced with only five days' notice, a move that FCC commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, both Democrats, criticized as "quick and ill-considered" in a joint statement.

"A hearing with only five days notice is no nirvana for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. This smells like mean spirit," the commissoners said, referring to Seattle grunge-rock legends Nirvana. "With such short notice, many people will be shut out. We received notice of the hearing just moments before it was announced. This is outrageous and not how important media policy should be made."

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