• Editor & Publisher, Thursday, April 3, 2008 11:15 AM

A new move by Congress to overturn the Federal Communication Commission's loosening of the ban on cross-ownership of newspaper and broadcast is underway. The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduling an executive session to consider legislation by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D.-N.D., that would return a former ban on one company owning a newspaper and radio or television station in the same market.

Senate Joint Resolution 28 to bar said practice is co-sponsored by 13 other senators, including presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- along with 2004 Democratic candidate John Kerry. The resolution is aimed at overturning a December FCC vote to allow daily newspapers in the nation's 20 largest markets to own either one lower-rated TV station or radio station. Other kinds of cross-ownership are still barred in smaller markets, but exemption provisions could in theory still permit that, too.

For Dorgan, "it's clear the concentration of media ownership that has already taken place has not been good for our country...In a democracy, making sure that citizens are able to get news and information from a variety of independently owned sources is crucial." But his bill faces an uphill battle: George W. Bush is virtually certain to use his veto power to kill it.

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