Clinton Cosponsors Media Consolidation Prevention Bill

[The Straight Story]

Clinton Cosponsors Media Consolidation Prevention Bill

Legislation Would Prevent the Federal Communications Commission from Unilaterally Relaxing Media Concentration Rules and Requires a Focus on Preserving Local Community Programming and Diversity in Ownership

Washington, DC - In response to ongoing efforts at the FCC to push through rules that would enable large media conglomerates to concentrate their ownership of newspapers, radio and television stations in media markets, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton joined legislation introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Trent Lott (R-MS), “The Media Ownership Act of 2007.” The bill would require an open and thorough review and comment process before any rule change is allowed.

“It is critical that our nation’s media outlets continue to reflect the needs and interests of the communities in which they are located. Moreover, ensuring that a diverse array of views, stories and opinions are available to the public is at the heart of the FCC’s regulatory mission,” said Senator Clinton. “This legislation will help ensure that these principles are upheld throughout the FCC’s review process of the current media ownership rules.”

Specifically, the Media Ownership Act of 2007 would require that the FCC must allow enough time for comment on the actual rule changes. The bill requires that the FCC put out the final rules proposed by the Commission for 90 days of public comment.

Furthermore, the legislation requires the FCC to focus on ensuring that localism and the promotion of local programming and content is preserved in media markets. The bill requires that they must publish a final rule in a separate proceeding on preserving localism and allow 90 days of comment. This must be completed prior to the vote on ownership.

Finally, the bill requires the FCC to properly examine female and minority ownership of media outlets. This is particularly important given that recent findings demonstrate:

* Women comprise 51 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of 5 percent of all television stations.
* Minorities make up 33 percent of the U.S. population just 3.26 percent of all TV station owners and only 7.7 percent of all full-power commercial broadcast radio stations.


The bill requires that the FCC establish an Independent Panel on Ownership by Women and Minorities. The FCC must collect and provide this panel with data on the specific gender and ethnic makeup of media owners. The panel shall issue recommendations and the FCC must act on these recommendations prior to a vote on media ownership.

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=287246&&