NEWSPAPERS OPPOSE CROSS-OWNERSHIP DELAY

By: Todd Shields New Bill Would Slow Reform Of FCC Rules


WASHINGTON -- Newspaper industry officials said Wednesday they would oppose congressional efforts to tighten the federal cross-ownership rule and slow review of the regulation. The rule at issue bars a single owner from possessing both a daily newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market.

Late Tuesday, the new chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) introduced a bill that would force an 18-month delay on any decision to relax or kill the rule. The bill also calls for an immediate review by the Federal Communications Commission of existing cross-owned properties that have been granted temporary or permanent waivers.

The bill's prospects, especially in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, were unclear.

Newspaper officials reacted strongly. "We will vigorously oppose it," said Shaun Sheehan, a vice president for Tribune Co. "In fact we're offended by it."

With its purchase of Times Mirror Co. last year, Tribune created three newspaper-broadcast combinations in Los Angeles, New York, and Hartford, Conn. It asserted that it need not submit the combinations for review until the television licenses come up for renewal by the FCC. Tribune also holds a television station in South Florida, where it also has a newspaper, under a temporary waiver meant to last until the FCC completes its review of cross-ownership regulation.

Gannett Co. Inc. also created a cross-ownership combination last year with a purchase that brought it the newspaper in Phoenix, where it already owned a television station. It was not clear which combinations might be subject to immediate review under the Hollings measure.

The Newspaper Association of America, a trade group, said the Hollings bill would impose "more unneeded and unwarranted regulations" upon the newspaper industry. "There is no reasoned basis for the government to make it harder for newspapers to compete against the plethora of media available in print, over the air, and via the Internet," said NAA President John F. Sturm.

Proponents of the regulation say it is needed to preserve diverse points of view that may be stifled if ownership is concentrated in a few hands. Critics say the rule is outmoded, since radio, cable and satellite television, and Internet outlets ensure many voices.

Hollings, at a hearing Tuesday, said the rule nurtures "critically important, independent voices." Citing last year's Tribune acquisitions, Hollings said FCC enforcement is "lax." He said his measure would require FCC licensees to alert the commission when they acquire a newspaper. The FCC then would need to review the transaction. The bill would require 18 months' notice to Congress before the FCC could weaken or kill the rule.



Todd Shields (tshields@editorandpublisher.com) is the Washington editor for E&P.



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