Boucher Asks FCC to Modify Media Ownership Rules

On March 1, 2010, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski saying the FCC should accelerate consideration of modifications to the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule and revise the rule so that a proposed combination may be approved when the number of competing voices present in the community after the combination is sufficient to ensure the voicing of contrasting views on major issues.

On May 10, Chairman Genachowski wrote back drawing attention to some compelling reasons for the FCC to evaluate each of the broadcast ownership rules concurrently in a single proceeding. Local broadcast ownership rules, he said, are interrelated and are designed in aggregate to promote competition, localism, and diversity in the local media marketplace. A change to one local ownership rule could affect the retention, modification, or elimination of another rule.