For Julia as promised...2 months later, information on media deregulation

[Becfola]

Media Ownership | Benton Foundation,

this site has a lot of info for those who are interested

Media Ownership
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 fundamentally changed US broadcast ownership law. The 1996 Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to reexamine its broadcast ownership rules every few years and repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest. Currently, the FCC is reviewing broadcast ownership rules including: the national television multiple ownership rule, the local television multiple ownership rule, the radio-television cross-ownership rule, the dual network rule the local radio ownership rule and the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule. The FCC is collecting public comment in 2006 and is expected to make rule changes in 2007.
Below find the latest major developments, a summary of the 2006 proceeding, input from the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee, links to the latest research, additional background as well as ways to keep up to date on the debate and links to organizations involved in the discussion.

Latest Updates:
June 17, 2008: The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee voted Tuesday to block new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules. The provision is part of a spending bill that provides funds to the FCC and would deny the agency any funding to implement the rule.
May 15, 2008 The Senate voted, without debate, to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission's Dec. 18 decision to loosen the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule. The measure passed on a voice vote.
May 6, 2008: The Congressional Budget Office has determined that enactment of the resolution would have no effect on the federal budget.
April 24, 2008: the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved S.J. 28
January 17, 2008: The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementing the Media Ownership Act of 2007 (S. 2332) would cost less than $500,000
Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash) introduced the Media Ownership Act of 2007 in the House
On Dec 18, the FCC voted to lift the newspaper-broadcast crossownership ban.
25 US senators sent FCC Chairmaan Martin a letter asking him to delay the media ownership vote.
On Dec 13, the Senate Commerce Committee held an FCC oversight hearing. (See recap)
The FCC has scheduled a Dec 18 vote on Chairman Martin's media ownership proposal. Commissioners Copps and Adelstein said, "This is a huge mistake."
The FCC has asked Congress to provide tax incentives to media companies that sell communications outlets to small businesses, including women and minorities.
A brief history of the newspaper-broadcast crossownership ban.
On December 5, 2007, the House Telecom Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on media ownership isssues.
On December 5, 2007, the Tribune Company sued the FCC over its decision to grant temporary waivers for the company's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownerships in five markets. FCC Commissioner Copps said the move was scripted by the FCC majority.
On December 4, 2007, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed a bill to block a Federal Communications Commission vote Dec. 18 on loosening its ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership.
On November 30, 2007, the FCC granted the Tribune Company waivers on newspaper-broadcast crossownership rules and authorized the transfer of control of Tribune Company from the existing shareholders to Sam Zell.
Updates posted 11.18.07
House Commerce Committe Chairman John Dingell has "serious concerns" about the timeline Chairman Martin has allowed for comment on media ownership rules changes.
FCC Chairman Martin has proposed changes to media ownership rules. Is he fulfilling a George Bush campaign promise?
The FCC will hold a final media ownership field hearing on Friday Nov 9 in Seattle.
The Media Ownership Act of 2007 would slow FCC Chairman Martin's plan to complete the media ownership rule review by Dec 18.
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on media ownership on November 8, 2007. See a recap
Media ownership was a hot topic at the FCC's hearing on localism on Oct 31, 2007.
Former FCC staffer Adam Candeub criticizes IG report
Media Ownership was a hot topic at an October 2007 Rainbow/PUSH symposium
Is time running out on the Bush FCC to change media ownership rules?
On September 5, 2007. the FCC's Inspector General released a report finding no evidence senior managers suppressed an agency report on locally owned TV stations because the results conflicted with FCC policy.
On September 9, 2007, the FCC backed off an effort to make new buyers responsible for the sins of previous station owners.
On September 27, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps suggested the agency is starting to speed up the pace of its examination of new media-ownership rules and warned that some important questions about minority media ownership need to be resolved before any rules are proposed.
On Thursday September 20, 2007, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein called for the creation of bipartisan, independent panel to review the more than 40 policy recommendations that were proposed by the FCC's Diversity Committee and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.
On Thursday September 20, 2007, the FCC held a media ownership hearing in Chicago, IL. (See recap.)
Children lose when a company acquires multiple TV stations in their town, according to a study by Children Now.
On June 28, 2007, the FCC held a localism hearing in Portland, Maine.
On June 12, 2007, the Media Access Project and other groups asked the FCC to block the pending sale of the Tribune Company unless the conglomerate breaks up its joint newspaper and broadcast ownership in five cities.
The FCC held a public hearing on media ownership in Tampa (FL) Monday April 30. (See a recap
Local TV Station Ownership 2006 and Local Radio Station Ownership 2006 from the Project for Excellence in Journalism's The State of the News media 2007
Recap of FCC's Media Ownership hearing in Harrisburg (PA) 2/23
Spiked Study Leads to New FCC Query
December 15, 2006: The FCC has extended the deadline for filing comments in this proceeding until January 16, 2007.
December 11, 2006: The FCC will hold a media ownership hearing in Nashville (TN).
November 3, 2006: The FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee adopted a 2nd recommendation on the Commission's media ownership rules.
October 23, 2006: Many, many groups filed comments at the FCC on media ownership rules. See a recap of coverage.
October 23, 2006: The Benton Foundation and the Social Science Research Council released four independent academic studies on the impact of media consolidation in the U.S. These studies make clear that media consolidation does not correlate with better, more local or more diverse media content. To the contrary, they strongly suggest that media ownership rules should be tightened not relaxed.

Tuesday October 3, 2006: The FCC held a public hearing on media ownershio in Los Angeles (CA). See a recap of the meeting.

2006 Proceeding
On June 21, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that seeks comment on how to address the issues raised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Prometheus v. FCC, which two years ago stayed and remanded several media ownership rules that the Commission had adopted in 2003. The Further Notice also opens a comprehensive quadrennial review of all of the media ownership rules. The 1996 Telecommunications Act mandates that the FCC periodically review its broadcast ownership rules to determine "whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as a result of competition." The Further Notice details the issues raised in the Prometheus case regarding the Commission’s earlier decisions and rationale. It discusses, and invites comment on, the rules that the court remanded:
Should the Commission revise the limits adopted in the 2003 decision on the number of broadcast stations that can be commonly owned in one market, or is there additional evidence or analysis available now upon which the Commission can rely to further justify the limits adopted then?
Should the Commission revise these numerical limits or is additional evidence available to further justify them?
How should the Commission address radio/television and newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership issues?
The Notice seeks comment on the court’s remand