Dow Jones deal prompts call to broaden cross-ownership ban

DOW JONES DEAL PROMPTS CALL TO BROADEN CROSS-OWNERSHIP BAN
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera and Joseph Menn]
Federal rules try to limit media power by prohibiting a company from owning a newspaper and a TV station in the same city. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corp faces no such hurdle in its pending deal to acquire Dow Jones and with it the country's second-largest paper, the Wall Street Journal, even though it owns a broadcast TV network and a cable news channel that blanket the country. Some Democrats say such national combinations should be scrutinized as well. Already not particularly fond of Murdoch's News Corp. because of the perceived Republican tilt of Fox News Channel, they are urging the Federal Communications Commission to review the deal. "The proposed merger between News Corp. and Dow Jones raises the serious question of whether a single company's concentration on a national scale should continue to be unfettered and unchecked," Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) wrote to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin last week. "The FCC should consider studying whether the public interest would be served if media cross-ownership rules existed at the national level." News Corp. declined to comment. Near term, a national ban is considered a long shot.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-dowjones8aug08,1,5742246.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
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