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IN FOCUS: SPECIAL ISSUE ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FCC Votes to Ease Media Ownership Rules
Senate Commerce Committee to Hold FCC Oversight Hearing
Michael Powell and the FCC: Giving Away the Marketplace of Ideas
Whose News?: A Look at Media Ownership in St. Petersburg, Florida
Media Moguls Have Second Thoughts
Stop Murdoch's DirecTV Takeover
FCC Media Ownership Quiz
A Final Note
FCC VOTES TO EASE MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines this
morning to relax its long-standing rules governing media ownership. Among
the changes were provisions permitting companies to buy more television
stations and own a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same city. The
vote has been called a victory for FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who has
faced intense criticism from interest groups that favor maintaining the
current regulations. "Our actions will advance our goals of diversity and
localism," Powell said, noting that the new rules would withstand court
challenges and better match the current media environment. The order raised
the cap on the percent of the population a single company's TV stations can
reach from 35 percent to 45 percent, eliminated all "cross-ownership" rules
in markets with nine or more TV stations and eased rules on local ownership
to allow a company to own two stations in most cities and three in larger
markets. "The more you dig into this order the worse things get," said
Commissioner Michael Copps, who voted against the plan.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHOR: David Ho]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3076-2003Jun2.html
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE TO HOLD FCC OVERSIGHT HEARING
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a
hearing on FCC oversight this Wednesday, June 4, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 253 of
the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington DC. Committee members will
discuss the FCC's decision today to relax various media ownership rules and
will also consider issues related to the FCC's reauthorization. All five FCC
commissioners are scheduled to appear as witnesses.
[SOURCE: Senate Commerce Committee]
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=796
MICHAEL POWELL AND THE FCC: GIVING AWAY THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS
[COMMENTARY] Washington Post media critic Tom Shales issued a blunt critique
of the FCC plan to further deregulate US media ownership rules, which passed
by a 3-2 vote today. "Revising and relaxing the rules that prohibit a single
entity from controlling too large a percentage of American media will allow
corporations that are already too big to become much, much bigger," Shales
writes. "Also much more powerful and much more oblivious to the common
good." In particular, Shales rhetorically targets FCC Chairman Michael
Powell: "It appears he is trying to do more damage than any other chairman
in FCC history," he says. Shales notes that the proposal has drawn together
a politically diverse group of opponents, from consumer groups to the
National Rifle Association, creating a certain amount of unease at the White
House. But the hundreds of thousands of citizen emails protesting the plan
did little to stop the it. "Michael Powell and the FCC are riding to the
rescue of huge media conglomerates that need rescuing about as much as
Spider-Man, Batman and the Terminator do," Shales writes. "Unfortunately,
you and I and the freedom of speech are the ones getting trampled in the
stampede."
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Tom Shales
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1424-2003Jun1.html
WHOSE NEWS?: A LOOK AT MEDIA OWNERSHIP IN ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
Jeff Harrington of the St. Petersburg Times takes a look at the Tampa/St.
Pete market to see how today's rulemaking might affect media businesses in
the area, and offers a who's who of local owners. Rather than provoking a
"feeding frenzy of dealmaking among the Tampa Bay area's media powerhouses,"
many believe that today's FCC decision to relax media ownership rules will
more likely result in a first round of local TV station swapping. Executives
at Media General, which owns the Tampa Tribune newspaper and TV station
WFLA-Channel 8, have said they are eager for more cross-ownership
opportunities. "We believe we've proven that convergence makes sense
journalistically and, without question, improves product quality," said
Media General Chairman Stewart Bryan. Other owners, however, have
misgivings about cross-ownership. Paul C. Tash, editor and president of the
St. Petersburg Times, is concerned about preserving editorial independence
and unique voices in the community. "There's very little local radio any
more, and I think it would be a bad thing if all the television stations in
the country were owned by three companies the way all the radio stations are
owned by three companies," said Tash. The Times is the largest and only
independently held daily newspaper in Florida.
SOURCE: St. Petersburg Times; AUTHOR: Jeff Harrington
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/02/Business/Whose_news.shtml
MEDIA MOGULS HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS
Ted Turner is one of a number of media executives having second thoughts
about the size and concentration of media companies. AOL Time Warner, one
of the industry's most aggressive consolidators, has lost about 75 percent
of its value in the last two years, and is now trying to cut its losses by
selling burdensome properties. Aside from the financials, Turner laments
the loss of independent voices: "Media companies have gotten so large and
concentrated that an independent voice has an almost impossible time getting
started in any kind of meaningful way, and that's a great tragedy for our
country." Liberty Media's John Malone, however, doesn't believe that
consumer choice is being denied. In Malone's view, Internet broadcasting
will open access to voices that might not be heard through traditional
channels. But cross-ownership critic and USA Interactive head Barry Diller
warns that only about 22 million homes have high-speed Internet -- and even
they "can't get a video picture bigger than a postage stamp."
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: David Lieberman
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-06-01-moguls-second-thoughts_x.htm
STOP MURDOCH'S DIRECTV TAKEOVER
[Commentary] The FCC is currently reviewing News Corp.'s proposed purchase
of a controlling interest in DirecTV, a deal which the Center for Digital
Democracy says "threatens fair competition in the media industry, the
quality and diversity of television programming, and ... the ability of the
public to obtain unbiased news in order to participate in our democratic
system." CDD offers an avenue for public participation via their website by
allowing users to file comments with the FCC before its June 16the deadline.
The page also contains resources for readers to educate themselves on the
details of the merger.
[SOURCE: Center for Democratic Media; AUTHOR: Jeff Chester]
http://www.democraticmedia.org/getinvolved/directvAction.html
FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP QUIZ
The Washington Post has published an online quiz to test readers' knowledge
of US media ownership rules and the ownership debate. Take the test and see
how you measure up.
SOURCE: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/polls/technology/fcc_060203.htm
A FINAL NOTE
The Benton Foundation would like to welcome graduate fellow Jennifer Hill to
the Headlines team. Jennifer is currently pursuing a Masters degree in
international development at American University. She'll be joining Andy and
Charlie on Headlines each morning, as well as working on Benton's Digital
Opportunity Channel and Digital Divide Network websites, among other
projects. Welcome aboard, Jennifer!
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