U.S. Media collapse set for Monday, June 2nd.

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

The FCC will vote Monday on whether to remove many restrictions now placed on media companies on how much they may own. Once passed the mega media corporations will swallow up small, independent media companies. Those who control what you see on TV, read in newspapers, and hear on the radio will be condensed even further to a select few.

…
Supporters of media ownership restrictions are making a final push to warn of the dangers of more media mergers ahead of an FCC vote that stacks 3-2 against them.

The Federal Communications Commission is to consider on Monday eliminating many of the restrictions on a single company owning combinations of newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same city. Another proposal would raise a cap preventing one company from owning TV stations that reach more than 35 percent of U.S. households.

Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, the two Democratic commissioners at the FCC, want to keep the restrictions in place. They are lined up against FCC Chairman Michael Powell and the commission’s two other Republicans.

Copps and Adelstein joined on Tuesday with about two dozen groups opposed to the deregulation.

“Absent a change of direction in the chairman’s office, we will likely have dramatically altered our nation’s media landscape,” Copps said. “At stake is who will control the gateways to the media, who will control the content of the media and for what purposes.”

Critics say relaxing the decades-old rules governing ownership of newspapers and TV and radio stations will kick off a merger frenzy and put a few corporations in control of what people watch, read and hear.

The collection of consumer groups, small broadcasters, religious organizations, writers and musicians spoke before a backdrop of mail baskets filled with about 250,000 post cards sent by National Rifle Association members opposed to eased ownership rules.

Powell, who conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with The Associated Press and other media, said adjustments to the rules are needed to reflect a market changed by cable TV, satellite broadcasts and the Internet. He also said if the FCC fails to act, outdated rules will be swept away by court challenges.

“What I worry about is that all of the rules will be eliminated not by us, but a judicial regime,” he said. “If you don’t do surgery on this patient, it is going to die. Free over-the-air TV is going to die. The rules are going to die.”

Powell agreed that some limits are needed. He said the FCC’s new rules will protect competition and diverse and local viewpoints while permitting beneficial mergers.

He said the changes also are needed to protect media sources people take for granted.

“We’re trying to make sure that quality content doesn’t continue to flee to pay television,” Powell said.

Adelstein disagreed with Powell’s reasoning, saying, “Free over-the-air television is alive and well.”

“Is it the job of the FCC to make sure every big television network in this country makes a lot of money?” he said. “I think our first job is to make sure the American people get a diversity of viewpoints.”

Critics worry television could become like radio: deregulation in 1996 allowed companies to amass hundreds of stations and cut costs by replacing local shows with national programming.

more
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030528_304.html

-Critics Warn Against the FCC Allowing More Media Mergers-
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/May/05292003/business/61073.asp

2

Actually it isnt that bad...instead of hearing lies from many different places now you can hear the same lies from a greatly reduced no. of sources.

3

Ooooohhh,

Cool!

Multiple Channels of Fox, 24/7.

Go Republicans!

4

Long live the King, right OhioGuy.

5

Geraldo is groovy.......

6

Lo gayee bhains paani mein...

hmmm now i will have to translate it for non urdu speakers and explain it to urdu speakers :D

7

More McChannels.. hoooorayyy..

8

Re: U.S. Media collapse set for Monday, June 2nd.

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by underthedome: *
Critics say relaxing the decades-old rules governing ownership of newspapers and TV and radio stations will kick off a merger frenzy and **put a few corporations in control of what people watch, read and hear.*
[/QUOTE]

hmmm. i hope the US doesn't go towards the Conrad Black-style of journalism in Canada.

9

From what I can tell, less and less people even watch TV at all anymore (at least people i know).. and people are becoming more selective about their news. I say let the pigs roll in the mud if they like! Maybe they'll gorge themselves on high maintenance, low return companies and either learn their lesson or collapse. Looks like AOL/Time Warner is burping after just a few years...

10

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by spoon: *
*...people are becoming more selective about their news.**
[/QUOTE]

That's true.

11

** The collection of consumer groups, small broadcasters, religious organizations, writers and musicians spoke before a backdrop of mail baskets filled with about 250,000 post cards sent by National Rifle Association members opposed to eased ownership rules. **

Thats wierd because the NRA have historically been for the right in American Politics. Right being people like Bushy.

12

Blogs the way to go..

get the news from the perspective of person who is living through it.

13

Re: U.S. Media collapse set for Monday, June 2nd.

The changes to the rules was passed today by the FCC. It was a narrow vote of 3-2. Secy of State Colin Powel’s son, Michael Powel, is the Chairman of FCC.
The new rules would allow the nation’s networks to own stations reaching about 45 percent of the nation, rather than the 35 percent allowed under current caps. It also would open more markets to allow the same company own two television stations. And it also would open the door for joint ownership of a newspaper and a television station in more markets than allowed under current rules.
Source

14

Not So Fast…

Panel Votes to Overturn Some New F.C.C. Rules

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate Commerce Committee voted Thursday to overturn parts of a Federal Communications Commission decision freeing media companies from decades-old ownership limits and allowing them to buy more outlets and merge in new ways.

The proposal, which faces an uncertain future in the full Senate and a tough road in the House, would roll back changes that allowed individual companies to own television stations reaching nearly half the nation’s viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same city.

I would like the FCC to start all over,'' said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who opposes the changed rules. She said they are potentially dangerous to media diversity in this country.‘’

Many media companies wanted relaxed rules, saying the old restrictions limited their ability to grow and provide better services in a market changed by cable TV, satellite broadcasts and the Internet. The broadcast networks say the changes will aid in keeping free TV alive by helping them compete with pay services for quality programming.

The rules, originally adopted between 1941 and 1975, were created to promote diversity of opinion in the media, encourage competition and prevent a few big companies from controlling what people see, hear and read.

The Republican-controlled FCC relaxed those rules on June 2 with a 3-2 party-line vote.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., would roll back the national ownership limit so a company can own TV stations reaching only 35 percent of U.S. households instead of 45 percent. The bill passed by a voice vote.

The proposed legislation also would reinstate a ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. However, it would allow state regulators to recommend to the FCC exemptions for small communities where a merger may be needed to support media outlets in financial trouble.

The bill also would clarify the FCC’s authority to strengthen as well as relax media ownership restrictions, a question raised by courts that have rejected past rule changes.

Another component of the bill would require the FCC to hold at least five public hearings on future ownership rule changes before voting. Lawmakers criticized the agency for not seeking more public comment before its June 2 decision.

An amendment narrowly approved 12-11 would expand new, stricter radio ownership rules so they apply to existing and future deals. If made into law, the change could force companies like Clear Channel, the country’s largest radio chain with 1,200 stations, to sell stations in markets where they exceed ownership limits.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and other lawmakers say they also will try other legislative methods to overturn the changes.

The airwaves belong to the people,'' Dorgan said. The FCC ignores that requirement and advances corporate interests at the expense of the public’s interest.‘’

It’s unclear how far these proposals will get beyond the Senate Commerce Committee. Challenges to the FCC rules face stiffer opposition in the House, where Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, supports the changes.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell and the two other Republicans on the five-member commission pushed through the changes despite opposition from two Democratic commissioners and a diverse circle of critics that included media moguls Ted Turner and Barry Diller, consumer advocates, civil rights and religious groups, writers, musicians, unions and the National Rifle Association.

Even without new legislation, legal challenges to the rules are expected from consumer groups seeking stiffer restrictions and media companies wanting even more deregulation.

News Corp., owner of Fox, and Viacom Inc., which owns CBS and UPN, benefit from the higher national TV ownership cap because mergers have pushed the media giant above the 35 percent level. The companies could be forced to sell stations if a new law is enacted and upheld in court.

The major networks wanted the cap eliminated, while smaller broadcasters said a higher cap would allow the networks to gobble up stations and take away local control of programming.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Media-Ownership.html

15

Another step in the right direction…
…
House votes down FCC rule changes

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, July 23 — The House voted Wednesday to prevent federal regulators from letting individual broadcast companies own television stations serving nearly half the national TV market, ignoring the preferences of its own Republican leaders and a Bush administration veto threat. By A 400-21 vote, lawmakers approved a spending bill with language blocking a Federal Communications Commission decision to let companies own TV stations serving up to 45 percent of the country’s viewers. The current ceiling is 35 percent.

Despite GOP control of the White House, Congress and the FCC, the House vote set the stage for what may ultimately be an unraveling of a regulatory policy that the party strongly favors. The fight now moves to the Senate, where several lawmakers of both parties want to include a similar provision in their version of the bill.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/943110.asp?0dm=C13LB

16

I heard Baby Powell will prolly be stepping down in the not-too-distant future?

17

Well done…

Senate Vetoes Media Rules

(AP) The Senate approved a resolution Tuesday to repeal media ownership rules that critics say could lead to a wave of mergers and ultimately stifle diversity and local viewpoints in news and entertainment.

Defying a White House veto threat, the Senate voted 55-40 to undo changes to Federal Communications Commission regulations governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations

Critics of the rules, led by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., say the resolution was needed because the FCC regulations give large media companies too much control over what people see, hear and read. The White House has threatened to veto the measure.

In June, the Republican-dominated FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to ease the decades-old ownership restrictions. The changes included allowing a single company to own TV stations reaching nearly half the nation’s viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same area.

Major media companies said the changes were needed because the old regulations hindered their ability to grow and compete in a market altered by cable television, satellite broadcasting and the Internet.

But lawmakers from both parties and a broad range of groups criticized the changes, saying they could lead to a wave of mergers and ultimately stifle diversity and local viewpoints in news and entertainment.

On Sept. 3, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia temporarily blocked the rules from taking effect the following day as scheduled. Several other legal challenges to the rules from broadcasters and consumer groups are pending.

The Senate resolution is a legislative maneuver, also called a “congressional veto,” that has been used successfully only once before. In 2001, the Republican-controlled Congress and White House used it to repeal workplace safety regulations issued late in the Clinton administration.

To succeed, the resolution will also need majority approval in the House as well as President Bush’s signature or enough votes — two-thirds of both chambers — to override the threatened veto.

Opponents of the media ownership changes initially appeared to have little chance of stopping the rules, but their efforts have steadily gained momentum.

The House dealt the FCC a surprising setback in July when it passed a broad spending bill that included a provision to block the commission from allowing individual companies to own TV stations reaching up to 45 percent of the nation’s viewers, instead of the current 35 percent. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a similar measure last week.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/03/politics/main556657.shtml

18

UTD kewl u updated this thread. I think the decision made was in te best interests of the consumers. Kudos to the senate.. I hereby forgive them for that freedom fries fiasco.

19

Dubya is set to veto it.. Dubya's friends will get what they want.. Clear Channel's money and propaganda for the administration doesn't come without strings attached.

20

Dubya doesn’t have the power to do jack in regards to this. Powell can go whine to his dad as he just lost this one.

…
New FCC media rules blocked

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court refused Thursday to allow relaxed federal rules on media ownership to take effect, dealing a blow to big companies like News Corp. that are hoping to expand.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said the new rules would not take effect until the Federal Communications Commission better explained how it came up with them.

“The Commission has not sufficiently justified its particular chosen numerical limits for local television ownership, local radio ownership, and cross-ownership of media within local markets,” the court’s 218-page opinion said.

Last year the FCC lifted a ban on a company owning both a newspaper and television stations or radio outlets in a single market. It also agreed in many cases to allow a company to own two television stations in a single market.

The FCC said it eased the rules to help broadcasters compete against pay television services.

But opponents fear the rules would only allow media conglomerates like Tribune Co. and News Corp. to grow even bigger to the detriment of local news reporting and diverse viewpoints.

Opponents cheered the ruling.

“Clearly, the court found that the FCC’s previous studies were inadequate and lacked credibility,” Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps said in a statement.

Andrew Schwartzman, a lawyer for Prometheus Radio Project who filed the lawsuit, said the court had ordered the FCC to “take the deregulatory thumb off of the scale.”

“It looks like the court agreed with us that preserving democracy is more important than helping big companies grow bigger,” Schwartzman said.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the ruling was troubling.

“This is the second time a court has put aside exhaustive efforts by the expert agency to set numerical limits. This has created a clouded and confused state of media law,” he said in a statement.

“We will thoroughly study this voluminous opinion and consider carefully our next steps.”

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/24/news/fortune500/fcc.reut/