Watchdogs Say FCC Is Trippin'

(CBS)  Federal regulators who in a few days will decide whether to scrap or weaken a series of controls on media ownership have taken numerous trips paid for by industry groups, an activist group claims.

The nonprofit Center for Public Integrity says in the past eight years, Federal Communications Commission members and staffers have taken 2,500 trips, costing nearly $2.8 million, to such destinations as Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro.

Most, but not all, of the trips were sponsored by media and telecommunications groups. Others were organized by universities and international organizations.

The National Association of Broadcasters led the way, according to the report, paying more than $190,000 to bring more than 200 FCC officials to events it sponsored.

An NAB spokesman was not available for comment Friday.

FCC spokesman David Fiske said the trips are meant to be educational and are reviewed internally to make sure they are ethical. Fiske said the shows and conferences help officials stay current on technology they regulate.

The FCC is considering sweeping changes to the rules governing how many radio stations, television networks and newspapers a single media company can own.

Members have until June 2, when a vote is scheduled, to consider the recommendations made in a recent staff proposal — one that critics warn will lead to a handful of companies controlling what people see, hear and read.

The plan was not released to the public, but two government officials who saw it described the contents to The Associated Press.

Among the proposals is one to allow a single company to own TV stations that reach 45 percent of U.S. households instead of the current 35 percent. The major networks favor eliminating any cap.

Viacom Inc., which owns CBS (including this website) and UPN, and News Corp., owner of Fox, stand to benefit from the higher national ownership rule because mergers already have left them above the 35 percent cap. Those companies along with NBC persuaded an appeals court last year to reject the current cap.

Smaller broadcasters and network affiliates worry that a higher cap will allow the networks to gobble up more stations and limit local control of programming.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell and the two other Republican commissioners support easing regulations, a loosening favored by many big media companies. They question whether decades-old ownership restrictions are needed in a market changed by satellite broadcasts, cable television and the Internet.

The FCC's two Democrats say Powell is rushing through an important process that needs more public comment. The review of the rules is required under the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Consumer groups say local newspaper and broadcast markets already are highly concentrated and more mergers will stifle diversity.

Under the FCC proposal, two existing "cross-ownership" rules — one preventing a company from owning a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city and another involving radio and TV station ownership in a market — would be rolled into a single rule that lifts most existing restrictions, the officials said.

Cross-ownership would be allowed in large and medium markets, but would face restrictions or bans in small markets.

"Merging the dominant local newspaper with a major local TV station is dangerous to our democracy because it combines the key watchdogs who keep an eye on each other," said Gene Kimmelman, public policy director for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine.

The Newspaper Association of America and media companies such as Tribune Co. and Gannett Inc. have sought the repeal of the newspaper "cross-ownership" rule, saying it limits combinations that can improve the quality and quantity of news and local information.

"The only thing the ban has succeeded in doing is to deny most local communities clearly established public-interest benefits," said John F. Sturm, head of the Newspaper Association of America, at a February public hearing on the rules.

Another proposed change would alter a rule that limits TV station ownership so a company can own two TV stations in more markets and three in the largest cities like New York and Los Angeles, the officials said.

A rule preventing mergers among the four major TV networks — NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox — would remain in place under the proposal, the officials said. The FCC eased that restriction in 2001 by allowing the major networks to combine with newer networks like WB or UPN.

Another rule limiting radio ownership to eight stations in a market would remain largely unchanged, the officials said.