FCC Hears Comments On Media Ownership

FCC HEARS COMMENTS ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Tampa Tribune, AUTHOR: Richard Mullins rmullins@tampatrib.com]
All five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission hosted a public hearing in Tampa to take comments about potential changes to media ownership rules. The proposals would limit how many TV stations, radio stations or newspapers one company can own in a market. Many people said media outlets already are too consolidated among a few companies. About 300 people attended the hearing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the fourth of six the FCC plans to hold across the country. Past venues included El Segundo, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn. Two panels of speakers included representatives from large and small media companies, media professors and journalists. "Anyone with a computer can now compete to serve the local audience," said Bill Carey, general manager of WFTS-TV and incoming president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters, who advocated for looser rules that would allow companies to own more outlets. Those new outlets are serious competitors for news, Carey said, and illustrate how traditional media companies need more flexible rules for how they operate. Several media representatives advocated for cross-ownership of news outlets - such as newspaper and television joint projects - arguing that combined resources allow them to distribute stories to whatever platform is most timely or appropriate. [Piece includes short Q&A with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin
http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBE5YDS51F.html

* Tampa Speaks Out for Local Media, Against Consolidation
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=232

* FCC holds Tampa hearings
Radio director attends hearing because he’s concerned about the lack of competition in the Tampa Bay market.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=53849

* Late coverage from St. Petersburg Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans
http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2007/04/fcc_comments_th.html

-- From the FCC --

* Chairman Martin: "The Commission has three core goals that our rules are intended to further: competition, diversity and localism. I recognize many of the concerns expressed about increased consolidation and preservation of diversity. Also critical to our review is exploring and understanding the competitive realities of the media marketplace. Some of our rules have not been updated for years and may no longer reflect the current marketplace."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272745A1.doc

* Commissioner Copps: "We don't need to play just defense - we can start playing offense. We can not only defeat bad new rules - although we must still do that. But now we are in a position to revisit the bad old rules that got us into this mess in the first place. And we can go on from there to restore meaningful public interest responsibilities to our broadcast media. For starters, let's go back to an honest-too-goodness licensing system that doesn't grant slam-dunk renewals, but stops to ask if a license-holder is really doing its job to serve the common good.... Let's also put what stations are doing to actually meet their public interest obligations up on the Web, so citizens can know how their airwaves are being used. And let's make sure that all that new digital capacity we're giving broadcasters returns something positive for our communities and local talent and civic issues coverage."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272749A1.doc

* Commissioner Adelstein: "Despite disagreements over the Commission's regulations, there should be no disagreement that media ownership is really about democracy. And fundamental to it is the "uninhibited marketplace of ideas," where everyone has a right to receive, share and exchange a diversity of news, information, and music. By controlling the information you receive and shaping public discourse, media companies influence our culture, politics, and ideas in a very powerful way."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272756A1.doc

* Commissioner Tate: "I welcome the opportunity to hear from the citizens of the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida area - a thriving technology center, the largest media market in the state, and 12th largest television DMA in the United States. It is also home to the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV, which together constitute one of approximately 40 grandfathered newspaper-broadcast combinations in the country, which should provide us with a unique opportunity to learn about the effects - both positive and negative - such combinations have."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272747A1.doc

* Commissioner McDowell: "The debate over broadcast ownership is concerns the vitality of our democracy and the appropriate balance among competitive efficiencies, diversity of voices and local focus. I've learned quickly that this debate elicits the opinions and passions of people from all walks of life from all over our nation."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272746A1.doc

Posted 5.2.07
DOES MEDIA'S MIX LACK FLAVORS?
[SOURCE: St Petersburg Times, AUTHOR: Eric Deggans]
It didn't take long for Monday's public hearing on media ownership issues by the Federal Communications Commission to boil down to a single question: Does media "convergence" - pooling the news-gathering resources of commonly owned news outlets, particularly as practiced by Tampa Tribune, WFLA-Ch. 8 and TBO.com owner Media General - serve the public good or subvert it? The crowd was a lively mix of media professionals, activists, politicians and observers, some of whom had waited for hours to address the commission. And those who spoke out against relaxing rules against further consolidation drew the largest applause.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/01/Business/Does_media_s_mix_lack.shtml

* Media Consolidation Hearing Provides a Lesson in How Not to Cover the News
Media General's news operation in Tampa is regularly cited by proponents of media consolidation to illustrate the possible benefits of allowing a single big media company to dominate a local market. But watching the company's web coverage of the FCC's media ownership hearing demonstrates how media owners can work to suppress views they don't like.
http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2007/04/media_consolidation_hear...
-- See for yourself -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjLALt2YMAU

BIG MEDIA: GOOD, BAD OR BOTH?
[SOURCE: Poynter Institute, AUTHOR: Pat Walters]
At times, the debate surrounding media ownership can appear singularly uncomplicated. Consolidation is evil, one person argues. Consolidation is good, says another. But if any one thing became clear at the FCC's media ownership hearing in Tampa, it is this: Like most public-policy issues, the question of media ownership is more complex than that. In all, more than 100 people spoke to the commissioners. But while opinions, viewpoints and stories were easy to come by, practical suggestions were scarce. When she spoke in the second panel, Poynter president Karen Brown Dunlap offered one. As she emphasized the importance of local public affairs reporting, Dunlap suggested the FCC require what she called a "community report" before relicensing any station. "It would be a return to a more rigorous assessment," she said. "It could involve a small task force of citizens, a cross-section of a community, led by a leader from outside that community, maybe a journalism professor." The task force would present its findings to the station leaders, the community and, ultimately, the FCC. "Clearly any one form of media ownership doesn't determine the quality of stewardship," Dunlap said. "Many communities suffer under local owners who bleed their stations for profits and to promote personal interests. There are large corporations, including chain owners who serve local communities with outstanding service."
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=122318&sid=56
* Public needs more news, less chatter
[SOURCE: St Petersburg Times, AUTHOR: Karen Brown Dunlap]
[Commentary]
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/02/Opinion/Public_needs_more_new.shtml