• Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11 AM

The Media Access Project and the Institute for Public Representation, working for the United Church of Christ and Media Alliance, are urging the Federal Communications Commission to deny Tribune Co.'s request to be allowed to continue to own both newspapers and broadcast outlets in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, South Florida and Hartford, Conn. The waiver requests were prompted by the company's plan to go private by the end of this year, and a change of ownership would nix the grandfathered exemptions it had to cross-ownership rules. So Tribune wants temporary exemptions pending completion of possible revisions to the FCC rules.

The commission has not said when a ruling is likely on that. "Tribune does not even attempt to offer a serious argument that offers any benefit for the public," the groups' argue. "Instead, Tribune's demand for a waiver pending the outcome of the commission's rulemaking proceeding is based entirely on a claim that a waiver is needed to minimize burdens on Tribune." The company declined to comment, except to say that "this is a long process that still has a lot to play out."

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