Media Ownership Rules and Campaign Promises

Presidential Election Could Alter Shape of Tribune-Times Mirror Deal
[SOURCE: New York Times 3/20/2000, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
In 2000, during another race for US President, then-Gov George Bush's aides quietly promised industry executives and lobbyists that a Bush administration would move swiftly to eliminate the Federal Communications Commission's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule. ''We have been assured through reliable channels that the governor would support repeal of the rule,'' said John F. Sturm, the president and chief executive of the Newspaper Association of America. At the time, the Tribune Company's merger with Times Mirror was pending and the fate of three of Tribune's largest television stations and three of Times Mirror's largest newspapers were in the balance. Shaun Sheehan, Tribune's top lobbyist in Washington, said he, too, had heard that the governor's policy advisers had said Gov Bush would repeal the rule. Echoing the position of the broadcast industry's lobbyists, aides to the governor's presidential campaign say they believe the rule is out of date, since consumers can now get information from a wide array of sources that include the Internet and cable and satellite television.
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* FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's media ownership proposal released Tuesday would cover Tribune's combinations in No. 1 market New York, No. 2 Los Angeles, No. 3 market Chicago, and No. 16 South Florida.
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