FCC Relaxes Media Ownership Rules… Again

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mojo-photo-fcc.gifFirst of all, has anyone ever noticed that it looks like the eagle is getting electrocuted on the FCC’s official seal over there? Ker-ZAPP, take that, freedom! Anyway, earlier today in a party-line 3-2 vote, the good old Commission overturned a 32-year-old ban that forbade broadcasters in the 20 largest media markets from also owning a newspaper. Do you get the sense that everybody in the Bush administration is just kind of “shooting the moon” at this point? Like, “screw it, let’s just do all the evil crap we want, who cares?” Both Republican and Democratic members of congress had asked FCC chairman Kevin Martin not to proceed with the decision, but the White House was gunnin’ for it. Yee-haw. [Edit: Hey, turns out MoJo‘s totally on top of this beat, check out this article, “Breaking the News,” for some background.]

The new rules are themselves a bit complicated, requiring eight independent “voices” (i.e., media companies) in a top 20 market before a newspaper-TV broadcaster combination would be allowed, and the TV station involved must not be one of the top four in the market. In markets smaller than the top 20, a TV partner of such a deal must add seven hours of local news unless the newspaper or station is in “financial distress.” With FCC chairmen tending to spend all their time getting their picture taken with celebrities, one wonders where they’ll find the time to keep track of all that stuff. But hey, now it’s theoretically possible for the San Francisco Chronicle and KRON-TV to be reunited! Lord knows they’ve both got to qualify for “financial distress.”

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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