Dan Kirkpatrick

The deregulatory changes the Federal Communications Commission recently adopted to its media ownership rules are due to take effect on Feb. 7. Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project, however, have filed an appeal of those rule changes in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and, as expected, have now asked the Court to delay the FCC’s implementation of those changes.

[Commentary] As we have observed more than once, the Federal Communications Commission’s quadrennial media ownership review process is Sisyphean in nature: even before the Commission can complete one review, the next begins, and previously completed reviews return thanks to court remands. Now, with the release of a Second Report and Order (2d R&O), the boulder has reached the top of the mountain again. How long it will stay there this time is anybody’s guess. The 2d R&O sprawls across more than 160 pages. The following are some of the highlights.