Dissatisfied with Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin's proposal to relax the agency's longstanding ban on newspaper/broadcast station co-ownership, the Media General corporation has submitted its own plan.

M. Ann Swanson of Media General met with Monica Desai, Chief of the FCC's Media Bureau yesterday to explain why "repeal of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule is needed in small- and medium-sized markets" and to outline the southeastern media company's counter-proposal.

On Tuesday, November 13th, FCC Chair Kevin Martin outlined a modification of the rule that would allow co-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the top twenty markets, based on Neilsen ratings. If the transaction included a TV station, the deal would have to leave eight full power TV and/or major newspapers—or "major media voices," as Martin put it—in the market intact.

Critics, including the FCC's two Democrats, quickly noted that the legal language behind the plan contains a clause in which none of Martin's criteria would be applied if "the public interest, convenience, and necessity would be served permitting an entity that owns, operates or controls a daily newspaper to own, operate or control an AM, FM, or TV broadcast station."

FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein called this language "a loophole that Big Media will drive a truck through, permitting a newspaper-broadcast combination in any market in the country."

But apparently that loophole is not big enough for Media General. Their proposal would permit newspaper/TV station cross ownership, provided that

• the TV station provides "an average of five percent locally relevant and responsive programming" from five a.m. to midnight. The plan defines such programming as public affairs, news, cultural fare, "controversial issues of public importance," or minority oriented programming. But it also includes local sports and local weather as part of the definition.
• the licensed station would decide what constitutes local relevance via conversations with community leaders and viewers to be held each fiscal quarter.
• the broadcaster provides two extra hours a week of local programming in the four weeks heading up to a general election. This fare would include interviews, new, and debate shows for candidates and ballot measures.
• the licensee will broadcast an average of 100 public service announcements (PSAs) for which the station is not paid. These will address "matters of interest and concern to the local community, at least half of which are locally produced by licensee or its affiliate and do not promote station-sponsored events."

Media General has long sought the elimination of the FCC's prohibition on broadcast station/newspaper co-ownership, but many of the company's newspapers and TV stations cater to smaller markets in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida and would not be affected by Martin's top 20 market criterion.

Opposition from Congress

Meanwhile FCC Chair Martin's proposal continues to draw criticism from members of Congress. Yesterday John Dingell, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, questioned Martin's timeline for the plan, which would allow for public comment on the new cross-ownership rule through December 11th. This would leave the FCC's Commissioners just one week to evaluate these comments before the agency's next public meeting on December 18th, Dingell protested. That is when the full Commission is expected to vote on the proposal.

Congressmember John Markey of Massachusetts also issued a statement, urging Martin "to ensure that the Congress and the public have an ample opportunity to review and comment on how any changes to FCC media ownership rules may affect these vital public policy objectives."

On the same day that Media General met with the FCC's Desai, representatives of 14 media reform organizations met with Copps, Adelstein, and their assistants to discuss the Martin plan.

According to their filing, the groups argued

• that the eight "major media voices" test could easily be applied to smaller markets, leading to numerous FCC waivers in medium sized cities and towns.
• that minority owned TV stations would be particularly affected by the plan because about a third of them broadcast to the top 20 markets.
• that the thesis that the Internet hurts newspapers is debatable, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America contended that "better newspapers add internet viewers in numbers equal to or greater than any circulation losses."

The 14 organizations represented included the Future of Music Coalition, the Alliance for Community Media, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and Free Press.