NAA’s Sturm to Back Martin at Hearing

Newspaper Association of America President: If Anything, Federal Communications Commission Chairman’s Plan Doesn’t Go Far Enough

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/4/2007 2:59:00 PM

Newspaper Association of America president John Sturm will have Kevin Martin's back when the Federal Communications Commission chairman makes his case for loosening newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules. He is being grilled at a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing on media ownership Wednesday.

Martin has been pushing for a proposal to loosen, rather than lift, the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban, but he has been getting flak from the Hill, including the chairman of the committee, John Dingell (D-Mich.).

According to a summary of Sturm's testimony, he will argue that, if anything, the Martin proposal does not go far enough, and that even simply relaxing the ban, as Martin has proposed, is "egregiously overdue."

Sturm said removing the restrictions would help local communities by allowing broadcasters to increase news, and it would not detract from diversity. Opponents of lifting the ban argued that their studies showed just the opposite.

Sturm will join the FCC commissioners, broadcasters and others at a hearing where the primary purpose appears to be preventing Martin from holding a Dec. 18 vote on his proposal.