Sturm Makes Newspapers' Case for Lifting Cross-Ownership Ban

STRUM MAKES CASE FOR LIFTING CROSS-OWNERSHIP BAN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In an interview on C-SPAN's The Communicators, Newspaper Association of America President John Sturm said the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban no longer makes sense and took issue with statements by Frank Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times, who told senators at a hearing earlier this week that the newspaper business model is not broken and that the fiscal problems for big media companies come from just trying to meet inflated profit margins. Sturm suggested Blethen favors the crossownership ban because of fear of competing against the Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a TV or radio station in the market. Sturm said the issue is not about profit margins, which, he conceded, aren't what they used to be. "Deregulation doesn't depend on margins or financial difficulties," he added. "A rule that was built for 1975 cannot be sustained in 2007," given the changes in the competitive landscape.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6499619.html?rssid=193

* The FCC’s 11-Year Rush to Judgment on Media Ownership
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