WASHINGTON – Worried about the prospect of further media consolidation in Maine, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, questioned the members of the Federal Communications Commission on why they chose to move toward a loosened regulatory structure that would allow the industry’s giants to grow even larger.
At a highly visible Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Snowe joined a bipartisan group of Senatorial critics who challenged the thinking of the three members of the FCC who were part of a 3-2 vote Monday to approve the rules that would allow companies to reach up to 45 percent of the national market rather than the previous standard of 35 percent.
The Senate is working on legislation that would roll back the FCC requirement to 35 percent in a bill (S. 1046) sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and co-sponsored by Snowe. Snowe spokeswoman Elizabeth Wenk said that the legislation is likely to be marked-up – or fine-tuned – as early as next week.
“This is an issue that could hit home in Maine or in any other state,” Wenk said after the hearing.
More voices
Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, has sponsored similar legislation in the House. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Michael H. Michaud, D-Maine, have both spoken out against the FCC’s plan.
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell stuck to his position throughout the hearing, avowing that media concentration was not the dominant issue. Commissioners said in a world that now transmits information via the Internet, a broad network of cable and satellite links and a plethora of print media, there is already a broad diversity of opinion – and news coverage – available.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., asked Powell to characterize who he thought was happiest about the ruling, trying unsuccessfully to get the chairman to say the media giants who stood ready to acquire more properties.
Dorgan has said he may try to employ the little-used Congressional Review Act, a fast-track method to take a second look at federal regulations.
Reuters reported Wednesday that the loudest voice in support of keeping the FCC rules in place, as written, is Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, R-La., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. At the Senate hearing, Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and John Sununu, R-N.H., showed some sympathy for the FCC outline, the newswire reported.
Clarification wanted
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who chairs the committee, said he wanted to come up with a law that requires strict standards to be set by the FCC.
“I intend to include specific language in a forthcoming FCC reauthorization bill to clarify that the commission may, and should, reimpose ownership restrictions as part of its biennial review where it finds such action would be in the public interest,” McCain said.
Snowe participated only in a single round of questioning, saying the decision “paves the way for the further consolidation and concentration of power in the hands of a few.” She chastised Powell for not giving greater consideration to more than 750,000 public comments sent to the FCC as letters, e-mails and faxes.
Powell, on talk shows and speeches before the decision, said he was guided by a 2002 U.S. Court of Appeals decision that he interpreted as requiring the FCC to study and report on the current status of competition. Powell said the court ruling, in turn, interpreted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires the FCC to review all of its broadcast ownership rules every two years and determine “whether any such rules are necessary in the public interest as a result of competition.”
“The court said the FCC should establish a rationale, a basis, for what is necessary in the public interest,” Snowe said to Powell. “I don’t know how you can establish what’s in the public interest if you don’t have a public process.”
Interpretation crticized
While Snowe criticized Powell’s interpretation of the 2002 court ruling, the FCC chairman was ready with a simply answer: “There’s no question that the court insisted that there’s a presumption of deregulation,” Powell said, adding that it would be up to Congress to modify the law if it wanted the FCC or the court to interpret it differently. “The problem is that I’m not a legislator, I’m a regulator. I’m obligated to follow the delegated authority. I’m under the oversight of the courts.”
Sen. Ernst F. “Fritz” Hollings, D-S.C., a key Democratic co-sponsor of the Stevens bill, has suggested that congressional intervention go even a step further – tying up FCC funding until they listen to congressional reason.
Snowe’s spokeswoman, Wenk, said after the hearing that the senator has not decided on whether to go that far.
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