Leadership Conference Urges FCC Not to Rush to Media Ownership Order

The Federal Communications Commission is getting some pushback from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights after reports that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to vote on a media ownership order before the end of the year.

The FCC is reviewing its media ownership rules per a congressionally mandated quadrennial review and a remand from the Third Circuit Court of appeals. In a Nov 9 letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the group "urged" the commission to reconsider the decision to "permit additional consolidation of the broadcast media without the court-ordered data analyzing [of] the impact of media consolidation on communities of color and women. As we have previously stated to the Commission, any change in media ownership rules should take place only after the Commission collects, releases, and subjects to public comment complete data and analysis of broadcast ownership data," said the group. "It is a grave disservice to the constituencies represented by The Leadership Conference to attempt to push through a change in media ownership rules at the last minute without an opportunity for our members to sift through the data and engage in substantive debate about its import.