Senate Blocks FCC Rule Change, White House Threatens Veto

Senator Byron Dorgan As expected, the Senate voted to block the Federal Communications Commission's attempt to loosen the rules governing cross-ownership of media with a voice vote late Thursday. The resolution, which was broadly supported by both Democrats and Republican senators, was sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D.-ND) and first approved by a bipartisan vote on the Senate's Commerce Committee on April 24.

At both stages, senators said they were acting to prevent undue concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few powerful corporate interests.

The full Senate vote invalidates the FCC's decision from Dec. 18 that would allow a single entity to own both a newspaper and a radio or TV broadcast station in the same media market in the top 20 media markets in the country. The vote is a public rebuke to FCC chairman Kevin Martin--a Republican, who was criticized by members of Congress for hurrying the FCC vote on the proposed change to a 1974 rule; legislators and consumer advocates said Martin didn't leave enough time for public debate and comment on the new cross-ownership rule.

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The rule change was adopted by a 3-2 party-line vote in the FCC, pitting the commission's three Republicans against its two Democrats, who also complained about Martin's management style.

After the full Senate vote, Democratic commissioner Michael Copps issued a statement saying: "The Senate spoke for a huge majority of Americans tonight by voting to overturn the flawed FCC decision gutting our longstanding ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. With courageous leaders like Sen. Byron Dorgan, the Senate has struck a blow for localism and diversity in a media environment crying out for more of both."

Now the issue goes to the House of Representatives, where its chances of success are fair. The House of Representatives' Commerce Committee also rebuked Martin for rushing the vote. After a special investigation, a bipartisan team of committee members recently told Chairman John Dingell (D.-MI) that he should hold public hearings on Martin's alleged mismanagement, which could happen as early as June.

But final congressional approval of the bill would hardly be the end of the saga. On Thursday, the White House repeated its threat to veto the bill blocking the FCC rule change if it passes the House of Representatives.

The White House argued: "The FCC rule, which is the product of years of study and extensive public comment and consultation, modestly and judiciously modernizes decades-old media-ownership regulations that highly restrict cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations."

This strong show of support for Martin by President Bush draws battle lines for a showdown pitting the White House against both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. As widely predicted, this would make the FCC rule change a political football in an election year, when many Republican lawmakers are seeking to distance themselves from the Bush Administration.

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