NAACP, Others Say They Don't Support FCC Loosening Crossownership

Minority advocates have told the Federal Communications Commission that, despite reports to the contrary, they do not support loosening the newspaper-broadcast crossownership rule (NBCO) without evidence it will not negatively impact diversity.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the National Urban League (NUL), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said they were writing to clarify their position. While in a filing to the FCC on media ownership the groups did say they would not object to relaxing the rule, they wrote this week, they only did so with the explicit caveat that "if such a relaxation would not diminish minority ownership." They say any implication that their support does not require that evidence, which they say the FCC has not provided, is not correct.