Court frustrates media moguls' expansion in US

[Dreamer128]

David Teather in New York
Saturday June 26, 2004
The Guardian

An appeals court in the US has overturned new media ownership rules that would have allowed further concentration of television, radio and newspaper assets in the hands of a few companies.
The decision frustrates the expansion plans of the conglomerates that dominate the American media market, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Viacom and Gannett, publisher of USA Today.

The attempt to loosen the rules last year was met with immediate and fierce opposition.

An unlikely alliance emerged between groups as diverse as the National Rifle Association and the National Organisation of Women who argued that loosening the ownership laws would curb di versity in the US media. They challenged the rules in court.

"This is a big, big win for diversity in the media," said Andrew Schwartzman, the president of Media Access Project, the law firm that brought the legal challenge. "The judges agreed with us that preserving democracy is more important than helping big companies grow bigger."

The federal communications commission, which drew up the rule changes, now needs to decide whether it wants to craft a new set of regulations or take its appeal to the supreme court. Both options would take months and it seems certain that the current status quo will not shift at least until after the presidential elections in November.

The rules put forward by the FCC included ending the ban on one company owning TV or radio stations and newspapers in the same market. They also proposed lifting the current cap on the ownership of TV stations, from reaching 35% of the nation to 45%. In addition they would have allowed a single company to own more TV stations in a single market.

The commission had argued that the existing rules had become outdated because of the growth of new media, including the internet and cable TV.

In its ruling, the court said it agreed in principle with some of the changes but it said the FCC's conclusions had not been backed with "reasoned analysis". It described some of the methodology as "irrational" or "absurd".

The decision is an embarrassment for FCC chairman, Michael Powell, son of US secretary of state Colin Powell. He said the ruling had created a "clouded and confused state of media ownership".

(BBC)

I think it is good to limit this, otherwise we will end up having to re-write a new set of Anti-Trust laws..

[DBear]

I find it curious that Rupert Murdoch is singled out first in the list of news conglomerates, when Time-Warner and Viacom are much bigger and better examples.


oh wait, it's the Guardian reporting. Nevermind.

Perhaps HE was the one currently trying to expand? I thought I read something aobut him proposing to do just that...

That is what starts the process..they apply for permission to aquire and expand via the SEC and other bodies and then those bodies start applying the associated FCC, and Anti-Trust laws....and then the debates begin. Im sure if Viacom tries to do something they will find the same process.

[Aerich]

Good. I'm all for diversity in the media, especially as there probably isn't enough of it anyway.