• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 5, 2007

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's move to loosen media ownership rules has riled members in both houses of Congress. Dual rebuffs were issued on Tuesday. With the fate of his proposals to allow more concentration of media ownership still undecided, the new congressional constraints narrow his chances of success.

In what amounts to a personal rebuke, Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.), the chairman of the House Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Martin saying his committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation will launch a probe of the FCC's recent actions. These include Martin's attempts to fast-track a vote to do away with cross-media ownership rules that restrict the same entity from owning, for example, a newspaper and a TV station in the same market.

Dingell characterized Martin's efforts to push through a vote on the changes to ownership rules on Dec. 18 as a "procedural breakdown," adding: "Given several events and proceedings over the past year, I am rapidly losing confidence that the commission has been conducting its affairs in an appropriate manner."

Among the flaws noted by Dingell, he said the FCC has not allowed sufficient time for a public review of proposed rule changes and in general, has attempted to "short-circuit" the review process within the FCC itself. The two Democratic commissioners on the five-person FCC have protested against the scheduled vote, saying Martin wants to stampede the FCC into making the changes before next year's elections.

Martin's push to revise ownership rules is also facing bipartisan opposition in the Senate, which passed a bill by Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, requiring at least 90 days for review and public comment on proposed rule changes. Dorgan said Martin "needs to follow a fair process, examine the impact of his proposal on localism and diversity of ownership, and let the public be heard."

Last week, Martin said he would grant a flexible waiver of cross-ownership rules to the Tribune Co., so its planned buyout by real estate billionaire Sam Zell could proceed. Earlier, he faced criticism for threatening to withhold the necessary waivers in a bid to build support from congressional Democrats who support the deal for broader changes in media ownership rules.