FCC should let everybody — even Murdoch — chase papers

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[Commentary] Newspapers may not be the radioactive investments they were a few years ago, but they're still not attracting droves of buyers. Still, regulators at the Federal Communications Commission insist on limiting the pool of potential newspaper acquirers.

The FCC does this through the so-called “cross-ownership” ban that prohibits the owner of a broadcast television station from owning a newspaper in the same market. While the FCC is moving to loosen the ban, even the proposed revision will keep some major players from bidding for newspapers. This is a potential problem for Tribune Co., which confirmed that it's shopping its nine newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune. Recently released from Chapter 11, the company has decided to focus on its television properties, which include WGN-TV/Channel 9 here in Chicago. While a number of parties are said to be interested in the papers, one of the biggest potential buyers might have trouble completing a deal under the cross-ownership ban. News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, owner of Dow Jones & Co. and the Fox broadcasting network, would love to get his hands on the Tribune papers. But his ownership of the Fox outlet in Los Angeles might disqualify him as a purchaser of Tribune's Los Angeles Times.

Some argue the cross-ownership ban promotes local news coverage and minority ownership of broadcast stations. They note that both have declined as the broadcast industry consolidated over the past quarter-century. If this is the goal, I don't see how it justifies limiting who can own a print newspaper. In fact, it can have the opposite effect on local news coverage by weakening the newspapers that provide so much of it. It's time for the cross-ownership ban to go the way of the teletype machine.


FCC should let everybody — even Murdoch — chase papers