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Feingold: FCC Is 'Rushing' Ownership Proceeding
WASHINGTON -- November 19, 2007: Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has written to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to express his concern about the FCC's proceeding regarding the media-ownership rules, saying, "I am concerned that the commission appears to again be rushing this proceeding with inadequate or selectively chosen information."
The FCC has not sufficiently evaluated the effects of media consolidation on localism, Feingold says, and "may even be selectively collecting and releasing information to support its pre-conceived agenda."
Feingold says the FCC "admitted to deciding not to release two reports that raised questions about potential negative impacts from further media consolidation," then cites a report by the FCC's Office of Inspector General in which a previous FCC Media Bureau Chief is quoted as saying he didn't want to release the "Review of the Radio Industry, 2003" report "unless the story can be told in a much more positive way," and adding, "This is not the time to be stirring the 'radio consolidation' pot."
Feingold says those comments by the then-bureau chief "throw the objectivity of FCC media-ownership reports and proposals into doubt." (The OIG investigation Feingold refers to concluded that the FCC's decision not to release the 2003 report "was not an attempt to conceal information.")
Feingold continues, "I ask the FCC to, at a minimum, complete the separate localism proceeding prior to making decisions on the current media-ownership rules. This proceeding should provide ample opportunity for the public to comment on any conclusions or proposed rule changes."
After acknowledging that the FCC has commissioned reports and held hearings on media ownership, Feingold says, "the limited hearings that have been held have confirmed that other issues of public importance, including the lack of women-owned and minority-owned broadcast stations, deserve more careful attention from the commission."
In a statement released with the letter, Feingold said he strongly supports Sen. Byron Dorgan's Media Ownership Act, which would require a separate localism proceeding and the formation of a diversity task force before the FCC can vote on any changes to the ownership rules.
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