The Senate moves to stop Michael Powell
Jul. 16th, 2003 01:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Thirty-five senators have latched onto a little-used law in an attempt to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's new media ownership rules, which opponents say would allow a few corporate giants to gain too much control of the airwaves and other media.
A "resolution of disapproval," which is permitted under the Congressional Review Act, has been placed on the Senate calendar for expedited consideration because it has more than the 30 signatures required to move it out of committee without a vote.
The maneuver comes as the battle over the controversial media rules heats up in Congress. Dozens of television station executives from around the country are set to lobby lawmakers today from the other side of the fight, encouraging them to keep the FCC's new rules, saying big broadcasters such as NBC and CBS need to get bigger to continue providing free over-the-air television.
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), the lead sponsor of the resolution, has signed on 28 Democrats and seven Republicans. The measure is co-sponsored by eight senators, including Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) and presidential candidate John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
"We are moving to roll back one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests I've ever seen by what is supposed to be a federal regulatory agency," Dorgan said in a statement.
The measure would require a simple majority of the Senate for passage. In an interview, Dorgan said he hoped to get a vote before the August recess: "I hope it puts pressure on the House," he said.
On June 2, as part of a congressionally mandated biennial review of its media ownership rules, the Republican-dominated FCC voted along party lines to lift the ban preventing a newspaper company from owning a television station in the same city. At the same time, it allowed network broadcast companies, such as General Electric Co.-owned NBC, to buy more stations at the local and national levels.
Previously, networks could not own a group of stations that reached more than 35 percent of the national audience. The FCC's vote raised that threshold to 45 percent.
Dorgan's resolution would roll back the FCC's rules, fixing the 35 percent limit in law and reinstating the newspaper-television cross-ownership ban. If the resolution is approved by the Senate, it moves directly to the House calendar, bypassing powerful committees, such as those headed by Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), whose members have vowed to block attempts to overturn the FCC's rules...
Keep in mind that "free" television comes to us over frequencies which were handed to the nice people in television land by our nation's leaders on behalf of, well, us.
Keep in mind also that they haven't felt much of a need to keep us particularly well informed lately.
If they can't manage to make money off of a situation like this, perhaps they should let someone else take a shot at it.
A "resolution of disapproval," which is permitted under the Congressional Review Act, has been placed on the Senate calendar for expedited consideration because it has more than the 30 signatures required to move it out of committee without a vote.
The maneuver comes as the battle over the controversial media rules heats up in Congress. Dozens of television station executives from around the country are set to lobby lawmakers today from the other side of the fight, encouraging them to keep the FCC's new rules, saying big broadcasters such as NBC and CBS need to get bigger to continue providing free over-the-air television.
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), the lead sponsor of the resolution, has signed on 28 Democrats and seven Republicans. The measure is co-sponsored by eight senators, including Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) and presidential candidate John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
"We are moving to roll back one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests I've ever seen by what is supposed to be a federal regulatory agency," Dorgan said in a statement.
The measure would require a simple majority of the Senate for passage. In an interview, Dorgan said he hoped to get a vote before the August recess: "I hope it puts pressure on the House," he said.
On June 2, as part of a congressionally mandated biennial review of its media ownership rules, the Republican-dominated FCC voted along party lines to lift the ban preventing a newspaper company from owning a television station in the same city. At the same time, it allowed network broadcast companies, such as General Electric Co.-owned NBC, to buy more stations at the local and national levels.
Previously, networks could not own a group of stations that reached more than 35 percent of the national audience. The FCC's vote raised that threshold to 45 percent.
Dorgan's resolution would roll back the FCC's rules, fixing the 35 percent limit in law and reinstating the newspaper-television cross-ownership ban. If the resolution is approved by the Senate, it moves directly to the House calendar, bypassing powerful committees, such as those headed by Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), whose members have vowed to block attempts to overturn the FCC's rules...
Keep in mind that "free" television comes to us over frequencies which were handed to the nice people in television land by our nation's leaders on behalf of, well, us.
Keep in mind also that they haven't felt much of a need to keep us particularly well informed lately.
If they can't manage to make money off of a situation like this, perhaps they should let someone else take a shot at it.