JPMorgan Stake in Tribune to Violate FCC Rule, Lawyer Claims

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its hedge fund partner will break federal rules limiting media ownership if they win the right to reorganize bankrupt publisher Tribune Co., a lawyer said.

JPMorgan and Angelo Gordon & Co. have built stakes in newspaper and broadcast companies that have come out of bankruptcy in recent years, Mark Prak, a lawyer who lobbies the US Congress and the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of television broadcasters, said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. "They will violate the FCC media ownership rules," Prak said. "The interest they have will complicate reorganization." Prak was testifying on behalf of Aurelius Capital Management LP, which is opposing a reorganization plan for Chicago-based Tribune sponsored by JPMorgan and Angelo Gordon. Aurelius is sponsoring its own plan. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey must decide which of the two plans to approve.