A Vote on the Veto
Our best chance to stop media consolidation could clear a big hurdle this week.
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will vote on the “Resolution of Disapproval” that North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan introduced last month (Senate Joint Resolution 28). With 18 bipartisan co-sponsors, including Alaska’s Sen. Ted Stevens, the vice chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, the resolution has a good chance of passing.
This little piece of legislation (it’s only about 50 words long) could overturn the Dec. 18 FCC vote that trashed the 30-year-old ban on “newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership,” which prevents one company from owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same community. The Resolution of Disapproval is essentially a congressional veto of the FCC’s rule change and would send them back to the drawing board.
Five years ago — the last time the FCC tried to push through sweeping changes in the nation’s media — Senator Dorgan championed a similar bill, which was passed by the full Senate. If the new resolution is approved by the committee on Wednesday, it will likely head for the Senate floor sometime later in the month.
As the 60 legislative days allotted for this bill begin to tick down, April could prove to be a turning point in the fight for better media in our communities. You can follow the progress of this bill here: http://www.freepress.net/node/35876
If you have not contacted your senators yet, please take a moment to take action here:
https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=243
