FCC Democrats Vow to Block Cross-Ownership Vote
Copps, Adelstein Respond to Agenda for Federal Communications Commission’s Dec. 18 Public Meeting
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/12/2007 12:44:00 PM MT
Federal Communications Commission Democrats pledged Wednesday to try to block chairman Kevin Martin's planned Dec. 18 vote on loosening the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules.
"At this point, given the lateness of the hour, we hope that either we can turn this around internally, or that Congress can save the FCC from itself," said Democratic FCC commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.
The latter was a reference to a bill pushed by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to block an FCC media-ownership vote.
The commissioners were responding to the FCC's agenda, released Tuesday night, which included a vote on that media-ownership issue and on a raft of diversity initiatives.
"We are deeply disappointed that the announced agenda for the Dec. 18 open meeting includes media ownership. This is a huge mistake," they said.
"The FCC should have heeded the calls of Congress and the American people to conduct a credible process on an issue of this importance to our very democracy,” the two commissioners added. “That means providing a meaningful opportunity for public input, rather than the callous disregard exhibited thus far -- most recently, the chairman circulated a draft decision on his proposal two weeks before public comment was even due! And it means taking meaningful action on minority and female ownership and broadcast localism, rather than the mish-mash of half-baked ideas currently before us."
The pair will have more chances to weigh in Thursday at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing featuring all of the commissioners.
