Yes! It's a good day for democracy.
Jun. 23rd, 2004 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheSenate Votes to Repeal Media Rules
The Senate voted on Tuesday to repeal rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission that make it easier for the nation's largest media conglomerates to expand and enter new markets.
The rules, approved last June by a divided F.C.C., largely removed previous ownership restrictions on media companies. They struck down the rule that in most markets had prevented one company from owning both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. In the largest markets, the new rules also enabled a company to own as many as three television stations, eight radio stations and a cable operator. And they allowed the largest television networks to buy more affiliated stations, although Congress later rolled back that provision.
The new rules have already been blocked temporarily by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, which is considering a challenge.
[...] "The president and the speaker of the House are determined to protect these rules," Mr. [Byron] Dorgan [D-North Dakota] said. "I am simply pounding away at this and trying at every opportunity I can to roll the rules back."
"Last June, the F.C.C. performed one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests against the public interest in the history of the country," he added. "When the number of people and corporations who control what 293 million Americans see and hear in the media shrinks to just a relative handful, democracy suffers."
The Senate voted on Tuesday to repeal rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission that make it easier for the nation's largest media conglomerates to expand and enter new markets.
The rules, approved last June by a divided F.C.C., largely removed previous ownership restrictions on media companies. They struck down the rule that in most markets had prevented one company from owning both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. In the largest markets, the new rules also enabled a company to own as many as three television stations, eight radio stations and a cable operator. And they allowed the largest television networks to buy more affiliated stations, although Congress later rolled back that provision.
The new rules have already been blocked temporarily by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, which is considering a challenge.
[...] "The president and the speaker of the House are determined to protect these rules," Mr. [Byron] Dorgan [D-North Dakota] said. "I am simply pounding away at this and trying at every opportunity I can to roll the rules back."
"Last June, the F.C.C. performed one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests against the public interest in the history of the country," he added. "When the number of people and corporations who control what 293 million Americans see and hear in the media shrinks to just a relative handful, democracy suffers."