The FCC should repeal its newspaper-broadcast ownership rule

[Commentary] A widespread though unverified rumor had it that President Bill Clinton did not want the newspaper-broadcast ownership rule repealed as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act because he did not want the owner of the Little Rock newspaper to be the same person who owned the dominant Little Rock television station. Fritz Hollings, then chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, did not want the Federal Communications Commission to repeal the rule for the same reason, transposed to the media of South Carolina. But if I lacked the gumption and votes at the FCC to get rid of the rule then, the proliferation of Internet access and content over the past 17 years should give today’s commissioners the conviction to do the right thing. In celebration of our commitment to freedom, the FCC should eliminate the rule that constrains the owner of a broadcast TV station from also owning a newspaper in the same city, and vice versa — forthwith.

The largest point is this: The former FCC chairman can have a preference about who owns a newspaper or a TV station. But the current FCC chairman should let the market decide. One of the glories of the United States is that we truly believe in free speech. When applied to media, that means we should honor the freedom to own the means of speech.

[Hundt was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997]