[BC] Senate begins overturn of FCC Media Consolidation

[Bill Sepmeier]

    On Thursday night, the US Senate initiated the process of overturning an FCC ruling made in December to allow for greater media consolidation. 
    The joint resolution (S.J Res. 28)passed by an overwhelming margin in a voice vote on the Senate floor.
    The resolution, originally sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), was cosponsored by Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Barack Obama (D-Illinois), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and a long listof others.
    "Today, the Senate stood up to Washington special interests by voting to reverse the FCC's disappointing media consolidation rules that I have fought against," said presidential candidate Barack Obama. "It is essential that the FCC promotes the public interest and diversity in ownership."
    Senator Dorgan's communications director Justin Kitsch noted to Truthout, "The next step is for the House to take up the resolution. Senator Dorgan certainly hopes it will move quickly."
    Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Washington) has introduced a measure similar to Dorgan's in the House.
    The vote demonstrated a strong rebuke of the FCC's controversial rule, (FCC 07-216), which eliminated the 1975 ban on a company from owning both a newspaper and broadcast outlet within a single market.
    "The FCC is supposed to be a referee for the media industry, but instead they've been cheerleaders in favor of more consolidation," Dorgan said in a statement regarding the Senate resolution. "Diverse, independent and local media sources are essential to ensuring that the public has access to a variety of information."
    The FCC's decisions in December, and its policies since early in the Bush administration, have drawn a flood of criticism from individuals angered by what they see as an irresponsible and partisan stance of broad deregulation.
    Chairman Kevin Martin has been accused of divisive leadership, lacking in accountability and transparency.
    Martin has become the subject of a Congressional investigation headed by Congressmen John Dingell (D-Michigan) and Bart Stupak (D-Michigan). 
    Staff members of the FCC voiced their discontent with Martin's tenure in a memo to Dingell and Stupak. "The bottom line is that the FCC process appears broken and most of the blame appears to rest with Chairman Martin," the memo said.
    The December FCC ruling on media ownership was split 3-2 along party lines and prompted fervent disapproval from citizens and government officials (both Republicans and Democrats). STOPBIGMEDIA.comclaimed that the Senate received thousands of calls and around 250,000 letters urging response to the FCC's actions.
    "The FCC must not be allowed to relax its media cross-ownership rules," Dorgan said. "More consolidation means fewer choices for consumers, and that is not in the public's best interest. There has been massive public outcry to these new rules, and they must be overturned."
    President Bush has threatened to veto any legislation that overturns the FCC's decision.