Court Throws Out Media Ownership Rules

[Gyre]

http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/f/1310/6-25-2004/20040625010008_11.html

Some good news for democracy.

Gyre

[meti57b]

1. Another reason why it is so IMPORTANT to VOTE DEMOCRAT!!!

We need our candidates to be the ones who appoint the federal judges (and State judges).

[w4rma]

2. Good! ! However...

...
However, the court also found the FCC was within its rights to repeal a blanket prohibition on companies owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same city. Several media companies have lobbied for the ban to be lifted.
...

[KoKo]

4. Good, hundreds of DU'ers contacted their congresspersons and FCC

and Move On made a huge effort over this, which got congress to vote forlimits. But then it went to the Federal Court and some of us thought our efforts were for nothing. This proves that those fax/phone/e-mail alerts can do some good.

I don't like that the court is leaving in place allowing companies to own both a newspaper and television station in the same city, though.

Most mid-sized cities only have one newspaper left. What if my local Fox Network here in the Triangle decided to buy our newspaper. I thought the article was a little unclear as to what this would mean.

[thecrow]

3. One for We The People!

Welcome to DU Gyre!

"This is a big, big win for diversity," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, chief executive officer of the Media Access Project, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm that led the lawsuit. "The court recognized that debate and democratic values are more important than letting big media corporations grow bigger."

<snip>

The court's ruling does not affect national limits on broadcast ownership. Last year, the FCC raised the limits on the size of the national audience that can be reached by a single owner of TV stations from 35 percent to 45 percent, but Congress later passed a law that put in place 39 percent cap.