WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is disputing Democratic assertions that a new rule loosening restrictions on media ownership is full of loopholes and will lead to a wave of mergers and fewer choices for consumers.
Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps described the commission’s decision approving the measure as “one that would make George Orwell proud,” referring to the English author best known for his novels critiquing totalitarianism.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the commission action was a “relatively minor loosening” of a single rule.
Too much media in the hands of too few companies raises fears of an emerging corporate big brother and fewer news and information sources.
The commission vote, along strict party lines, will allow a single company to own a television or radio station and a newspaper in the 20 largest metropolitan areas of the country, including the Seattle-Tacoma area.
The two Democrats on the commission say the rule will open the door to a new wave of media consolidation. The chairman was also criticized for granting waivers to a number of existing cross-ownership arrangements.
Martin says the loopholes are actually exceptions that create a high hurdle for such combinations. The transaction could only occur if it were in the 20 largest metropolitan areas and involves only one TV or radio station. Also, the TV station could not be among the top four in the market, and post-transaction, at least eight independent media voices would remain.
Martin’s proposal also included a confusing exception that would allow combinations outside the top 20 markets in some circumstances.
Opponents read it as a giant loophole, and the subsequent fix not much better. The new rule change “keeps the old loopholes and includes two new pathways to cross ownership approval,” wrote Copps. It also provided waivers to 42 newspaper-television station combinations, according to the other Democratic commissioner, Jonathan Adelstein.
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