Media Ownership Rules Under Scrutiny of Congress
Congress has taken issue with the Federal Communications Commissions' relatively new ownership rules. Five house lawmakers have produced a “resolution of disapproval” in order to nullify recent loosening of ownership rules that allow the ownership of both newspaper and broadcast in the same market (Kaplan, 2008).
The 23 member Senate Commerce Committee will vote on Wednesday to repeal these rules which will give chairman Kevin Martin with his first rebuff on one of his decisions. The vote is likely to come out in favor of the repeal, but it will then be a matter of how far it will make it from that point (Tienowitz, 2008).
The adjustment to the ownership rules have faced significant opposition since it was narrowly passed by the FCC. Should the House of Representatives be successful in it’s attempt to nullify the rules, it would likely face a presidential veto, therefore it is unlikely that the rules would be repealed in 2008 (Teinowitz, 2008)
In December of 2008, the FCC adopted new media ownership rules with the explanation from Martin, Chair of the FCC, that it would help “forestall the erosion in local news coverage by enabling companies to share these local news gathering costs across multiple media platforms. Opponents of the rules argue that it would increase the cost of buying stations and cause smaller owners and minority owned stations more difficulty in attracting advertisers.
John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are among the more recognizable names of those opposing the rules, who time of the rules going into effect, had stated that they would fight the new rules due to the potential negative effects that they might have on minority ownership (Jones, 2008)
Sources:
Jones, J. (2008, March). FCC Adopts New Media Ownership Rules. Black Enterprise , p. 8.
Kaplan, P. (2008 , March 13). House Lawmakers Take Aim at Media Ownership Rule. Retrieved 30 2008, March , from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSN1353329820080313
Teinowitz, I. (2008, March 30). Congress Takes Swing at Overturning FCC's Ownership Rules. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from TV Week: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/03/