TheNation: Big Blow to Big Media

"More than a year after the Federal Communications Commission narrowly endorsed a radical rewrite of media ownership laws in a manner that would have strengthened the hand of media conglomerates, a US appeals court has determined that the FCC went too far.
In one of the most significant setbacks for the Bush Administration's campaign to rewrite regulations to favor big business, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia rejected the rationale the FCC used to ease media ownership limits and ordered the commission to revisit the issue with an eye toward protecting, rather than undermining, the public interest in diverse ownership or local and national media. . . .
"This is a major victory in preventing a handful of huge corporations from controlling what the American people see, hear and read," declared US Representative Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, a leading Congressional advocate for media reform. "It also vindicates the millions of Americans from across the political spectrum who spoke out and contacted the FCC on this issue. The law unequivocally stands with the public values of localism, diversity and competition in the media, and that's what the court maintained."
Before the FCC voted by a 3-2 margin on June 2, 2003, to endorse the rule changes, groups ranging from Common Cause and MoveOn.org to the National Rifle Association and the Traditional Values Coalition raised concerns about the determination of FCC chair Michael Powell and his two Republican allies on the commission to implement rule changes that would make it dramatically easier for a handful of large media corporations to control the vast majority of print and broadcast communications at the local and national levels. Groups representing print and broadcast journalists, including the Newspaper Guild, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, were also outspoken in their criticism of the proposed rule changes.
After the commission voted for them, public outcry led to votes in the US House and Senate for different measures to override some or all of the FCC decisions regarding the rules. But pressure from the Bush Administration, and moves by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to block necessary votes, have so far prevented the reconciliation of the House and Senate stances.
By blocking Congressional action that could resolve the issue, Bush and DeLay have placed themselves in direct opposition to clearly expressed public sentiments.
More than two million Americans have contacted the FCC and members of Congress demanding retention of limits on media monopoly at the local level and controls on consolidation of broadcast media ownership nationally. And they now have the courts on their side."