News Corp. Scandal Adds Fuel To U.S. Media Ownership Debate

The Federal Communications Commission is staying out of the growing News Corporation phone-hacking scandal, but the agency may be unable to dodge the controversy when it wades into the media ownership debate later this year.

“I think this scandal has to be taken into account by anyone who wants to lift the limits on media ownership,” said Craig Aaron, president of the media reform group Free Press. “It brings to light the danger of too much power in too few hands.” News Corp., which owns Fox News, 27 TV stations, the Wall Street Journal, and other media properties in the U.S., as well as news outlets around the world, has long been a bogey man for media reformers. Now it’s inevitable that the media giant’s travails will impact the coming FCC media ownership debate in a big way, Aaron said.“If you’re at the FCC and you’re considering loosening media regulations, this scandal should certainly give you pause,” he said. “You absolutely can't have this conversation without looking at what’s going on in England. It’s a stark reminder of what can happen with such concentrated media.”

Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, said, "The situation at News Corp. is irrelevant to the modest media ownership reform that NAB is seeking to allow free and local broadcasting to compete against national, subscription-based platforms."