Rejected Reruns from the FCC

REJECTED RERUNS FROM THE FCC
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Eric Alterman, George Zornick]
[Commentary] Media concentration at the national level is continuing apace. Case in point: Rupert Murdoch is rapidly adding media outlets to his portfolio, most recently picking up Dow Jones & Co. and The Wall Street Journal all while launching the new Fox Business Channel. Even so, media moguls and the megacorporations they run will soon be free to push this process into overdrive. Earlier this month, the Bush-appointed, powerful ally of media consolidation Federal Communications Chairman Kevin Martin revived a four-year-old plan to relax media ownership rules at the local level. The plan includes repealing a rule that prevents companies from owning both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. This rollback would allow one company to virtually control freedom of the press in entire cities, regions, and even states. If Martin’s plan is successful and local media ownership rules are relaxed, moguls like Australian tabloid king Rupert Murdoch or Chicago businessman and prospective Tribune Company owner Samuel Zell will be able to enter a media market and buy the daily newspaper, the eight biggest radio stations, the big television stations, the alternative newspapers, and virtually any other outlet they choose.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/11/fcc_reruns.html