In an issue packed meeting scheduled for December 18th, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on one of its media ownerships rules, to the dismay of the agency's two Democrats.

"This is a huge mistake," Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein said in a public statement posted on the agency's Web site today. "The FCC should have heeded the calls of Congress and the American people to conduct a credible process on an issue of this importance to our very democracy. That means providing a meaningful opportunity for public input, rather than the callous disregard exhibited thus far."

For the last two months FCC Chair Kevin Martin has publicly advocated an FCC rule change that would allow entities to own a newspaper and a television station in the top 20 U.S. urban markets. Critics in Congress and elsewhere have accused Martin of rushing the decision. They have also asked that he publish the exact text of the proposed change for public comment before bringing the matter to a vote, something Martin has refused to do.

"We have been engaged in internal discussions to try to get our processes back on track," Copps and Adelstein's statement concludes. "We wish those discussions had led to better results. At this point, given the lateness of the hour, we hope that either we can turn this around internally, or that Congress can save the FCC from itself."

Meanwhile three big companies have been lobbying the FCC over the last few days, complaining that Martin's proposal does not go far enough in relaxing the agency's media ownership limits.

Clear Channel radio continues to demand that the agency eliminate or substantially loosen its restrictions on how many radio stations an entity can own in an Arbitron based market. Media General wants Martin to extend his newspaper/TV cross ownership liberalization policy to smaller markets. And Sinclair protests that Martin's proposal does nothing to weaken the FCC's "anti-duopoly" prohibitions on owning two TV stations in the same region.

"Given the high likelihood that a new rule is unlikely to take effect any time soon," Sinclair wrote to the FCC yesterday, "the Commission should, at a minimum, take the incremental step of granting waiver requests of the 'duopoly' rule in those situations where an applicant can demonstrate that no harm will result from the proposed combination and that there will be public interest benefits."

The December 18th meeting will handle at least half a dozen important issues, among them how to resolve conflicts between digital satellite repeaters and wireless transmitters, rules to boost minority ownership of media, proposed limits on the number of customers any cable company can reach, and a possible proceeding on the agency's sponsorship identification rules.