Speaking at a committee hearing on broadcast localism, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii said today that he was "very troubled by efforts at the FCC to allow greater consolidation of our media."

"As we know from recent history, this is an area that requires tremendous caution," Inouye told the Senate Commerce Committee during a discussion about localism, diversity, and media ownership.

The comments come a day before the Federal Communications Commission will hold its last hearing on its media ownership regulations in Seattle, Washington. Up for grabs are rules limiting how many newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations a single entity can own in a market.

Both of the Commission's Democrats have warned that "the rush is on to push media consolidation to a quick and ill-considered vote." Inouye called a Commission decision on the rules before the end of the year "a serious mistake."

"So let me caution the agency now: rather than rushing to judgment on new rules," Inouye's statement concluded, "regardless of whether they are a broad set of new rules or modest changes, the FCC should focus on completing pending proceedings on localism and public interest obligations that have long languished for lack of attention. If rule changes are required, the American people deserve to be informed and provided a reasonable period of time for meaningful comment and discussion."

Frank Blethen

An outspoken opponent of proposals to lift the Federal Communications Commission's media ownership rules will appear as a panelist on the Commission's last public hearing on the question.

Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen is one of sixteen individuals who will offer their perspective at tomorrow's hearing, to be held in Seattle's Great Hall starting at 4 pm.

In December of 2006 Blethen called the American media landscape a "battlefield for democracy [that] has tilted decidedly away from the people, as the rapacious capitalists have been strengthened with a new and ominous weapon — that weapon is newspaper and media consolidation, and the control of the information distribution channels."

Blethen will speak at 4:30 pm alongside Pamela S. Pearson, General Manager of the Tribune Broadcasting Company's TV cluster KCPQ/KMYQ in Seattle, Bernie Foster, publisher of the Seattle Skanner, Elizabeth Blanks Hindman, Associate Professor at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University, Erubiel Valladares-Carranzo II, Technical Engineer, KPCN-LP 96.3 FM Radio Movimiento's “La Voz del Pueblo,” and Mark Allen, President & CEO of the Washington State Association of Broadcasters.

"This region ought to welcome the FCC to the Emerald City in proper Seattle fashion by flooding the e-mail inboxes of our congressional representatives, inviting every key person we know to Friday's hearing and, most of all, jamming the place with our bodies and voices."

So wrote a for the Seattle Times today following the news that the Federal Communications Commission will hold its last of six hearings on its media ownership rules in Seattle's Great Hall this Friday.

Despite the fact that the FCC has only given one week's notice for the gathering, media activists are doing their best to fulfill the Times' wish.

The Reclaim the Media group has been running workshops on media ownership policy to prepare speakers for the event. One teach-in will be broadcast on Hollow Earth Radio on Thursday evening starting at 7:30 pm PST.

Decrying a "lack of information available in the record about Native American media ownership," an advocacy group for Native American broadcasters has asked the Federal Communications to put off any quick decisions about its media ownership rules.

Native Public Media, which represents 33 Native American radio stations, filed its comments on November 1st, a day before the FCC announced its last public hearing on its broadcast ownership limits, to take place in Seattle, Washington on November 9th.

"Because the Commission still has not sufficiently evaluated the current status of ownership of media outlets by Native nations or individual Native Americans," the group wrote, "NPM urges the Commission to further study Native station ownership and any barriers to such ownership before adopting final rules in these proceedings."

NPM's filing expressed disappointment that the FCC has not followed through on the coalition's requests for more focus on Native American media ownership patterns. According to the statement, the group

The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled its final hearing on its media ownership rules. The gathering will take place on November 9th in Seattle, Washington.

The announcement gives the public one week's notice to prepare for the event, despite a letter from Washington state's United States Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Jay Inslee asking for more time.

"We are troubled by the speed at which you are attempting to complete the proceeding," the two politicians wrote to the FCC today. "We urge you to give at least four weeks advance notice before the Seattle hearing, in order to allow the public time to arrange plans to attend and prepare testimony."

The FCC's two Democrats reacted to today's announcement with undisguised anger.

"A hearing with only five [business] days notice is no nirvana for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest," Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein wrote. "This smells like mean spirit. Clearly, the rush is on to push media consolidation to a quick and ill-considered vote. It shows there is a preordained outcome. Pressure from the public and their elected representatives is ignored. With such short notice, many people will be shut out. We received notice of the hearing just moments before it was announced. This is outrageous and not how important media policy should be made."

Media reform groups offered mixed reviews at best to the Federal Communications Commission's latest moves on cable competition and video franchise authority.

"Today, the FCC gives to the American people with one hand, but takes back with the other," declared Harold Feld of the Media Access Project after today's decisions on competition and franchising.

The FCC ruled that cable companies can no longer demand exclusivity clauses in apartment buildings and other so-called Multiple Dwelling Units (MDUs). The landlords of such units often negotiate exclusive deals with a single cable operator to service the whole building.

"I believe that people that live in apartment buildings deserve to have the same choices as people that live in the suburbs," FCC Chair Kevin Martin said in his public statement on the decision. "There is no reason that consumers living in apartment buildings should be locked into one service provider."

The Commission voted unanimously to approve the change. They did not unanimously pass a separate order to further preempt the authority and scope of Local Franchising Authorities (LFAs)—city and county agencies that set terms for cable providers.

Bob Edwards

A former National Public Radio talk show host and a prominent civil rights leader will speak before the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing on local broadcasting. The event is scheduled for this Wednesday, October 31st.

In addition to XM Satellite radio's Bob Edwards and the Reverend Jesse Jackson senior, Kim Gandy of the National Organization for Women will comment at the hearing, as will broadcasting historian Christopher Sterling, professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.

The hearing's purpose, according to the FCC announcement, is "to gather information from consumers, industry, civic organizations, and others on broadcasters’ service to their local communities. Along with competition and diversity, promoting localism is a key goal of the Commission’s media ownership rules."

But the FCC's announcement of the localism hearing just five business days in advance brought protests from the Commission's two Democrats: Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.