fcc relaxes media ownership rules
Ignoring overwhelming public opposition at half a dozen public hearings all over the country, the Federal Communications Commission voted to allow media companies to own both newspaper and television or radio stations in the same community.
Democratic commissioner Michael Copps, who cast one of the minority votes against the new rule, was quoted in the New York Times as saying “In the final analysis, the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what’s happening in our communities and to keep an eye on local government.”
“Despite all the talk you may hear today about the threat to newspapers from the Internet and new technologies, today’s order actually deals with something quite old-fashioned,” Mr. Copps said. “Powerful companies are using political muscle to sneak through rule changes that let them profit at the expense of the public interest.”
Makes one wonder, what was the point of the public hearings?