House Subcommittee Votes to Stop FCC Media Ownership Rule

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee voted Tuesday to block new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules that would allow newspaper-broadcast outlet cross ownership in the country's 20 largest media markets. The provision is part of a spending bill that provides funds to the FCC and would deny the agency any funding to implement the rule. The Senate in May passed a bill to rescind the FCC rule. House leaders aren't ready to take up the Senate bill, but the action in the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee would achieve the same result. Subcommittee Chairman Rep Jose Serrano (D-NY) said Tuesday that he believes the loosening of the media consolidation rules by the FCC "is detrimental to the goals of diversity in ownership and viewpoints." The subcommittee approved the spending bill on a unanimous vote. But Rep Ralph Regula (R-OH), the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, said he is concerned about the FCC provision. The Internet, he said, has given consumers wide and diverse access to news. The full committee is scheduled to vote on the spending bill on June 24, but the final measure likely will be wrapped into a large year-end spending bill covering virtually all federal agencies. At any point in the process, lawmakers could remove the FCC provision.
http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200806171817DOWJONESDJONLINE000610_univ.xml