Copps Concerned by Speed of FCC Media Ownership Proceeding
Commissioner Michael Copps worries that the FCC’s media ownership proceeding is moving too fast, he told reporters Thursday. Recent news reports (CD Aug 2 p4) and FCC actions indicate the commission’s comprehensive ownership review is picking up speed, he said. “What I sense around here is a little quickening of the pace of how we look at things,” he said. “All of a sudden, the wheels started to turn a little faster.”
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The change follows a “leisurely” review of the number of radio and TV stations one company can own in each market and broadcast-newspaper cross-ownership rules, Copps added. The upshot is “to maybe tee up media ownership [rules] sooner than you, and me, expected,” he said. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has hinted to other commissioners that he wants to circulate an order by the end of the first quarter, agency officials have said. Copps said he knew of no such plans.
The FCC must act in a “credible” fashion in the review, updating the public on the process, Copps said. He wants to see the commission address concerns raised by members of Congress and others about the peer review process accorded 10 ownership studies the FCC commissioned, he said. He suggested that the commission detail why several reports from the last ownership review in 2003 weren’t made public at the time. “People still want to know what happened with the suppressed reports the last time around,” he said. The FCC Inspector General has investigated the episode; an FCC official in another office said that probe seemed to be at a standstill.
Copps wants Martin to circulate an omnibus ownership order that avoids piecemeal handling of such matters as cross-ownership. “I would hope that nobody has any ides about ‘Let’s just change one rule and not the others,'” he said. “I will be fighting to make sure that this is the procedure we use,” he added. “I think there are a lot of people on Capitol Hill” who feel likewise, he said. The agency should launch a further rulemaking delineating specific ownership rules before commissioners vote on them, Copps said. That would give the public a chance to weigh in. “We have to make sure that we don’t pass bad new rules,” said Copps. “I am determined before I leave this place that I am going to make an impact on the broadcast public interest obligations.”
Copps wants a thorough review of the Tribune, Dow Jones and other pending deals. He suggested he’s resisting granting Tribune cross-ownership waivers, which the company seeks in pursuit of its $8 billion deal to go private. “Everyone understands that the Tribune thing would be a steep climb for me, given my history on consolidation,” Copps said. “We have to look at the fact that we have rules on the books.” The commission would be “derelict” if it didn’t examine a proposed $5 billion News Corp. takeover of Dow Jones, he added. But the majority of commissioners don’t seem to want to “get involved,” he said. “There is a whole range of reasons for why the commission should look at that.”
- Jonathan Make