FCC Chairman: I'm Staying Through 2004

By: David Ho, Associated Press Writer (AP) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, under fire for his handling of media ownership rules, on Tuesday dismissed reports that he will quit.

"I intend to stay and lead the commission until the end of the president's administration," Powell told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Asked if he would stay if President Bush is re-elected, Powell said he would stay "at least until the election and we'll see what the results of the election are."

Powell succeeded in getting the Republican-dominated FCC to ease decades-old rules governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations. The 3-2 party-line vote on June 2 approved changes that allow individual companies to own TV stations reaching nearly half the nation's viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same community.

Major media companies said the changes were needed because the old regulations hindered their ability to grow and compete in a market altered by cable television, satellite broadcasting, and the Internet.

But lawmakers from both parties and a broad range of groups criticized the changes, saying the regulations give large media companies too much control over what people see, hear, and read.

Congress and the courts are considering several efforts to modify or repeal the rules. A federal appeals court has temporarily placed the rules on hold.

Powell, a champion of deregulation who critics say is too pro-big business, rose from commissioner to chairman when Bush took office in 2001. His term isn't over until 2007.

Bush, in a taped interview telecast Monday night on the Fox Broadcast Network, backed Powell. "I support what Michael Powell did. He took a long, deliberative process," Bush said. But he was noncommittal on whether he would veto legislation to repeal the media rules.

Powell said he feels the White House supports him "100%."

Several split votes within the agency, including one earlier this year in which fellow Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin sided with the two Democrats, have led critics to question Powell's leadership.

Powell said he has a hard time convincing people that he is staying.

"I am answering this question which gets presented to me once and for all," Powell said. "I say it. I say it again and I say it again and again and I continue to see people suggest that I mean something else."