Senate Adopts Resolution Overturning FCC Ruling On Media Cross-Ownership

May 16, 2008 11:06 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Senate passed a resolution on Thursday overturning a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling last year that allows daily newspapers own TV stations.

By a voice vote, senators passed the measure authored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to nullify the FCC's lifting of a 32-year old ban on media cross-ownership.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was joined by the two other Republicans in the five-member Commission December last year in approving a proposal to allow a newspaper to own one television station or one radio station belonging to one of the largest media markets. Democratic lawmakers had urged for a longer period of review, but Martin said the ban on cross-ownership "was no longer in the public interest."

The White House has repeatedly said the President will veto any attempts by lawmakers to overturn the ruling.

"The FCC is supposed to be a referee for the media industry, but instead they've been cheerleaders in favor of more concentration," Dorgan is quoted by Radio Ink as saying. "Diverse, independent, and local media sources are essential to ensuring that the public has access to a variety of information."

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has expressed "disappointment" over the vote, according to Radio Online. "The FCC's approach modernizes a 30-year-old rule in a way that improves the financial viability of the newspaper industry, which faces an increasingly competitive media market," he said.

But the Free Press Action Fund praised the Senate for "standing up to Big Media."

"This is simply an astounding victory," Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver said in a statement to AHN. "This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House."