Martin Gets More Flak on Steps to End Media Ownership Review
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin got more grief for taking steps to finish a media ownership review begun June 2006. Critics focused on plans for a final public hearing Friday and his refusal to pause the proceeding for work by a task force on minority ownership. Some minority ownership proposals that Martin included in the ownership rulemaking were supported by a wide array of broadcasters. Meanwhile, Martin is holding firm for a Dec. 18 vote on a rewrite (CD Nov 5 p4).
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Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., criticized the chairman for giving little public notice of the FCC field hearing in Seattle. The commission scheduled the hearing late Friday, though commissioners had discussed holding a meeting there for weeks. It’s difficult for people to attend on short notice, wrote Inslee and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Both are Commerce Committee members. Residents of Alaska, Idaho and Oregon plan to attend and “need reasonable advance notice in order to participate,” they wrote.
Martin provided less notice of the Seattle hearing than of the five other ownership meetings, Inslee’s office said. The senator was upset that Martin scheduled the Seattle hearing, the last such meeting, the day that Inslee and Cantwell sent the letter seeking four weeks’ notice of the event. But the chairman’s office wasn’t aware of the letter before it issued the public notice scheduling the event, said an FCC source. An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment. Martin typically responds directly and privately to letters from senators.
A group opposing consolidation said insufficient notice shows the entire review is “a charade.” The scheduling is “another slap in the face to the American public,” Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver said. He called it “outrageous.” But many broadcasters support Martin’s efforts. The chairman is likely to get a vote on long- awaited rules in late 2007 or early 2008, said Allbritton Senior Vice President Jerry Fritz. Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps probably will dissent, giving Martin a 3-2 vote, Fritz said. “It’s going to be contentious,” he said. “In the end I think he gets an order out” to end a ban on owning a newspaper and a broadcast station in a market.
Martin was asked by 21 groups not to end the ownership review until convening a task force on minorities comprised of experts outside the FCC. The task force should come up with ways for the agency to better count the number of women and minorities who own radio and TV stations, said the Black Leadership Forum, Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, National Council of La Raza, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Native Public Media, Rainbow PUSH, Urban League and others. “Only when the work of the task force is completed should the FCC move forward with any changes to the rules,” they wrote. “We are alarmed by recent reports indicating that you will not wait until the work of such a task force is completed before issuing new rules.” The task force was first proposed Sept. 20 by Adelstein at the last ownership hearing. Martin said he’s open to such a panel but not if it delays a vote on ownership rules (CD Oct 15 p6).
Many of the 38 other minority ownership proposals that Martin sought public comment on were supported by the NAB, broadcast networks and TV station owners, in FCC filings this month and last. The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, which made many of the proposals, said Sunday that the filings showed “widespread industry support.” It cited comments from Clear Channel, Emmis, Ion, NCTA and a group of broadcasters including Belo, Fox, Gannett and LIN.