FCC votes to let newspapers buy broadcast media outlets in their own communities

kevin martin is a bush stooge... you don't have to go back very far to figure it out either... in october he refused to investigate telecom collusion with the nsa (see here), and in the public hearings on this latest outrage, revealingly documented by bill moyers (see here), he shows himself clearly for what he is - a tool...

so, after all the crap heaped on kevin martin's head in public and congressional hearings about this move, after hearing repeatedly in the strongest terms possible NOT to do it, he does it anyway... george must be so proud...

The Federal Communications Commission, overturning a 32-year-old ban, voted Tuesday to allow broadcasters in the nation's 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was joined by his two Republican colleagues in favor of the proposal, while the commission's two Democrats voted against it.

Martin pushed the vote through despite intense pressure from House and Senate members on Capitol Hill to delay it. The chairman, however, has the support of the White House, which has pledged to turn back any congressional action that seeks to undo the vote.

At Tuesday's meeting, the chairman described the media ownership proceeding as "the most contentious and divisive issue" to come before the commission.

That proved true as the two Democrats blasted Martin's plan in unusually strong language for the normally sedate agency.

Martin said his proposal represented "a relatively minor loosening" of the cross-ownership rule. He noted concern for the steady decline in revenue for newspaper companies and said his proposal "strikes a balance" between the realities of the changing media marketplace and the preservation of diversity and competition in broadcasting.

preserving diversity and competition, my ass... kevin must be smoking some powerful shit... my feeling is, if the newspapers can't make it financially, tough shit... isn't that the way the markets are supposed to work...? times change... there aren't a lot of buggy-whip manufacturers around these days either...

this is nothing more than a thinly-disguised move to further consolidate our ALREADY pathetically NOT-diverse media into even fewer hands, thus making manipulation of our ALREADY highly manipulated news even easier for the elites... there's no question that it's a great deal more difficult to propagate approved talking points and tailored mind-control messages via multiple diverse media outlets... there'll always be SOMEBODY saying SOMETHING that hasn't been pre-approved, and that's really inconvenient when you're trying to get all the sheeple moving in the same direction...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet