Senate votes to roll back media ownership rule

Source: A/P

WASHINGTON - The Senate Thursday night voted to nullify a Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media companies to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market.

The unusual "resolution of disapproval," sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and 26 other senators, was approved by a voice vote. The measures sponsors include both Democratic candidates for president, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has described the agency's action as a "relatively minor loosening" of broadcast media ownership restrictions. The rule was approved by the FCC on a 3-2 party-line vote in December with both Democrats dissenting.

The FCC decision allows one company to own a newspaper and a broadcast station in the nation's 20 largest metropolitan areas. The TV station may not be among the top four in the market, and post-transaction, at least eight independent media voices must remain. The rule replaced an outright ban on cross-ownership.

Dorgan said the FCC action opened a "gaping loophole for more mergers of newspapers and television stations across the country."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_go_co/media_ownership

I hope this sticks

media, the likes of Murdoch, Zell, Zuckerman, and the like

who helped drag us into the Iraqi war, on borrowed money

w/ the economy the way it is today, not to mention the strength of

our armed forces

have criminal elements to them...I hope to see prosecutions in 2009.

way to go Senators

But it didn't say what the vote was. Do they have enough to overturn the impending veto?

seems to me that the the GOP congress under Newt passed a law that allowed congress a certain amount of time after a rule change to but it up to a vote. In effect giving congress the right to veto presidential actions. Some rule or other under Clinton was done away with by this process..
I need to do a little research though as I am not sure.

Do let me know if you find anything.

in recovering our Democracy.

Of course its underreported who is going to report this? Certainly not any of the large media interests that want to be able to consolidate as much media as possible. It is not in their interest to report this at all. If people don't hear about it ,they don't think about it. I would love to see the 96' FCC deregulation rolled back as well. Nothing is better for this country and our democracy than media ownership in as many hands as possible. EVERYONE has an agenda. The more hands the better chance that we have to hear what may be construed to be the truth.


Randy

The italian media mogul and former prime minister. News Corp has been on recent acquisition binge, so to say that News Corp has a lot of money riding on the election is an understatement. This is the quid pro quo for Fox News heavy support of Republicans. Fox gets them in power, and the Republicans support News Corps acquisition efforts.

and of course Wall Street Journal, NY Post, et al. Here's a list of the holdings at the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_News_Corporation

Your reps need to know you're watching!

Elton Gallegly - the congressman from Rocketdyne.

Whatever happened to that? I know the Dems in Congress are all talk (too much Preparation, not enough H), but I remember that idiot Hannity and Limpballs talking about how it's not needed...free market...blah blah...puke. This led me to believe that something might actually be done about it.

I remember that idiot Hannity and Limpballs talking about how it's not needed...free market...blah


It was nixed in the Reagan years because it was said to be a stifling force in fairness. Apparently, the GOP congress said then that some stations just had no political broadcasting at all because they knew they'd have to broadcast opposing views for an equal amount of time, so they just didn't broadcast views of any kind. THEREFORE eliminating the Fairness Doctrine would help get MORE and DIFFERENT viewpoints on the air!

Typical Repug logic....disingenuous logic. Since the EXACT OPPOSITE has happened (duh!) it's time to put the notion that the Fairness Doctrine was useless or harmful in some way to rest....perminately.

To refute the gas from those parade balloons.

I remember hearing them cry about The Fairness Act back when we were trying to get Rush off of Armed Forces Radio.

Poor babies.

or have we been seeing the start of progress in things that really matter?

The Dems were always covering their stomachs, then getting smacked in the face, cover your face, get smacked in the stomach, repeat, repeat, repeat while the Repub bullies laughed.

Lately, the Dems have been putting their heads down, covering with one arm and flailing about with the other, occasionally hitting something.

I like to think of this as progress for the Dems. Eventually I expect to see a mighty kick to the Republican shin and then the Dems run for cover and realize that the bully limps away and it's safe to come out.

SUCCESS!!!:eyes:

:spank:

:kick: & rec

I also feel the pendulum swinging back - and gaining energy, in fact.

We're all part of this wave.

They know the Cavalry's comming.

We just need to look beyond the (D) and flush the DINOs down with the GOP sewage.

America might survive after all!:toast:

This is a very important vote for our democracy.

:party:

:toast:

I think if that happens after the fairness doctrine is re enstated then this would fix faux and rw talk radio for good.

Imagine Rush or Hannity followed by Someone like Randy Rhodes or Rachel Maddow on the same station...excellent :))

NPR could become more widespread and listenable.

PBS could put out BBC level quality content to counter Faux.

I realize that she and her husband are two different people, but it was President Clinton who brought you the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This was the single worst thing to happen to television and radio in my lifetime. I've never gotten over that one, both as a fan of radio and as a consumer of entertainment and news media.

And now she supports a tiny rollback of ownership concentration. How convenient...

:applause::woohoo::applause::woohoo::applause::woohoo::applause::woohoo::applause::woohoo::applause:

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v4.1
==================



This week is our second quarter 2008 fund drive. Democratic Underground is
a completely independent website. We depend on donations from our members
to cover our costs. Whatever you do, do not click the link below!

Well not really but it's a start.

Murdoch.Gee!That name sounds like a mix between Murder and Warlock.

That guy is a waste of DNA.

when it won't get vetoed.

the measure would likely be rejected by President Bush".

:applause:

:applause:

If the Chimpster vetos it, it can be reintroduced after we win the whitehouse.

The younger guys I argue with have every right wing talking point down pat. It comes form a steady diet of Hannity and Limbaugh. It is the only thing they hear. These "white men" are the most misinformed segment of our society. And you are hearing this from a 55 year old white man.

Fairness doctrine? I don't know if we need to go that far since we are now used to streamlined media. But surely we can have much better balance than we see now. It would be amazing to see the fairness doctrine restored.

Why should six to eight megacorporations control all the news to the American people?

Every journey begins with one step...this may be that step...

three repub seats lost. Yes, my friends, the revolution has begun.

and get back to REAL reporting and information available to public

That's more like it!

nothing?

glad to see this struck down tho.

:P

This is great news...a step at stopping the government propaganda agenda. Thank you Senator Dorgan!

:dem:


sonia

and kudos for this ruling, no one and I do mean no one should "own" the market when it comes to news sources. I own a newspaper and I applaud this decision. There has been far too much corporate control and far, far too little freedom for the press because of it. Maybe in a tiny way this will help stop the flow of advertising driven news and place the pen and mikes back into the hands of journalists. I know that this may or may not stand up but it definitely a baby step in the right direction.:toast:

has been met with opposition on both sides. The newspaper industry has complained that the FCC did not go far enough, while activists who want to keep big media companies from getting bigger said the agency went too far".

It isn't just about media companies getting bigger. It's about consolidation of ownership by a few global conglomerates that control every source of information available. It's about control of information by corporations that control our government through lobbying and campaign finance and profit through policies of war, and at the same time control the national consciousness through the the dissemination of propaganda.

The ownership of information sources by entities that also control our government and profit from its policies, is one of the most dangerous conflicts of interests there is. There is no hope of putting humanity on the right track, as long as the public is being lied to and deliberately confused by propaganda 24 hours a day.

I would prefer to see the media monopolies broken up, so that we would have in its place a system of genuine diversity. I would also like to media outlets fined for telling bald faced lies in pursuit of a political agenda. But I see little hope of this happening. The trend is definitely in the other direction.

This is great!

such legislation.

:toast:

Restrict salary of CEO to a reasonable level.

This CEO payscale thingy is getting out of hand!

It's an exploitation of the American working people.

...and it has been underreported...like most real news is. Gotta keep those ratings up! :7

n/t

sorry

We're going to take back America!!

We need to stop the GOP propaganda machine. This is a great step in the right direction!

the house and doesn't get vetoed, that will severely hurt Murdoch as he owns the NY Post, Fox 5 and the local channel 9 (Formerly WWOR).

And just remember, you WILL pay for what you did to the Dixie Chicks because this ain't over.

Whoa! I don't want to jinx things, but I'm feeling optimistic once again about our future.

to hide the fact that they are exclusively representative of corporations (which we all know are innately hierarchical and shun democratic processes), even in an election year. If I were one of the affected corporations I wouldn't be sweating it. In fact I'm sure they'll be hiring some of these paid 'government' representatives when they leave office for their services.

may work with Dems to try to override his veto in order to distance themselves from his administration.

As I recall this was one of the topics at brought up during the Murdoch fundraiser for Clinton.

and not nearly enough to undo the damage and restore public ownership of the airwaves and democracy in the US.

No Democratic candidate should see this as a solution.

It should instead be a top policy issue in the current election.

What does Obama propose for the public airwaves?

What does Clinton propose?

What do all your senators and representatives running for re-election propose?

When I squint my eyes, I can almost see America again!

Unfortunately, in addition to this, another big portion of the broadcast/radio spectrum that belongs to the people, was recently sold NOT rented or leased!