Media Ownership Puts Martin on Hill Hot Seat

From the action in the Senate yesterday (see below), the media ownership debate moves to the House today. For a witness list see http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/110-ti-hrg.120507.Witness.List... See the hearing scheduled to start 9:30am (Eastern) at http://energycommerce.edgeboss.net/wmedia-live/energycommerce/11991/100_...

MEDIA OWNERSHIP PUTS MARTIN ON HILL HOT SEAT
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
All eyes are on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin this morning as he testifies before the House Commerce Committee. Today's oversight hearing -- and another planned next week in the Senate -- are aimed at slowing down Martin's plan to lift the newspaper-broadcast crossownership rule. The consensus among FCC insiders is the chairman won't back down. Despite “a lot of pressure and a lot of heat,” Martin “wants to get this done,” says a source close to the chairman. But Martin is just one vote on the five-member commissioner. He is counting on his two fellow commissioners, Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell, to deliver their vote and produce a majority. Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein are adamantly opposed to loosening ownership rules. And there is growing conjecture that Tate and McDowell’s support might fade, especially under heavy congressional fire. “Neither of them has seemed like the strongest of reeds in the face of strong political winds,” says one broadcast industry observer. Commissioner Tate is considered more likely to bend because her initial FCC term expired last June and she needs Senate confirmation to keep her job. “Tate obviously has more concerns because she'd like to have another term,” says one FCC insider. Any Senator can place a hold on an FCC nomination, and there are plenty who think that the FCC has no business tampering with the newspaper-broadcast crossownership rules. While Tate and McDowell will be under considerable pressure to abandon Martin, they will be getting little outside pressure to stand by him.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/12/04/daily.13/

NAA'S STURM TO BACK MARTIN AT HEARING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Newspaper Association of America President John Sturm will have Kevin Martin's back when the Federal Communications Commission Chairman makes his case for loosening newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules. According to a summary of Sturm's testimony, he will argue that, if anything, the Martin proposal does not go far enough, and that even simply relaxing the ban, as Martin has proposed, is "egregiously overdue." Sturm said removing the restrictions would help local communities by allowing broadcasters to increase news, and it would not detract from diversity. Opponents of lifting the ban argued that their studies showed just the opposite.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6509535.html?rssid=193