Cantwell Blasts FCC; Condemns Commission For Opening Door to More Media Mergers

Press Release

Cantwell Blasts FCC; Condemns Commission For Opening Door to More Media Mergers
Nothing Modest About These Changes; This Is Just the Beginning...

In a 3-2 party line vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today eliminated its long-standing ban on the common ownership of a daily newspaper and a television or radio station in the same market. Their decision came after U.S. Senator Cantwell (D-WA) and a bipartisan group of senators wrote to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Monday threatening legislative action, if the Commission went ahead. A week earlier at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Cantwell expressed directly to Chairman Martin her concerns that the FCC's proposed new rules will increase media consolidation and hurt competition, diversity, and localism. As soon as possible, Cantwell will join Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and others in introducing a resolution of disapproval, which will be the first in a series of actions to have the FCC restore a deliberative and inclusive process to its media ownership rulemaking.

"There is nothing modest about the Commissions new media ownership rules despite how they try to spin it," said Cantwell. "In particular, the loopholes for granting waivers for cross ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets will open the gates to increased media consolidation in media markets of all sizes. Even before day one of this process we knew where the Chairman stood - helping big media get even bigger. While I am disappointed by the vote, I don't see today's action as being the final word."

Under the rule, "there shall be a presumption that it is not inconsistent with the public interest" that a major daily newspaper in the twenty largest media markets can own one television or one radio station in the same market, if the television station is not among the top four ranked stations in the area, and there are more than eight independently owned and operating newspapers and television stations after the transaction is completed. Seattle is the nation's fourteenth largest media market. Additionally, the FCC can grant waivers to proposed combinations of daily newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market based on consideration of certain factors - several of which are qualitative and unenforceable.

Martin introduced his proposed rules on November 13, 2007, four days after the FCC held a public hearing on media ownership in Seattle, where nearly 800 Washingtonians spent nine hours sharing their viewpoints with the FCC - the vast majority in strong opposition to increasing media concentration.

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