House Appropriations Tells FCC Not to Implement Ownership Rules
The FCC would be banned from implementing its newspaper- broadcast cross-ownership rules, under an appropriations bill approved Wednesday in the House Appropriations Committee. The provision, promoted by Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., drew only mild disapproval from subcommittee ranking member Ralph Regula of Ohio.
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“Newspapers are in a new, competitive environment… and are having a tough time surviving,” Regula said. “I'm not sure we should bar them from mergers,” he said, saying the issue should continue to be discussed. He offered no amendments to strike the provision, but said the provision had the potential to delay enactment of the bill.
Serrano said the “loosening of media consolidation rules is detrimental to the goals of diversity in ownership and viewpoints, as well as to localism and independence in the news media.” The ban was included as an amendment during the Financial Services Subcommittee markup.
The committee approved the president’s request for $338.8 million for the FCC in FY 2009, which includes $20 million for DTV education and outreach. In the report on the bill, the committee said it was “concerned about the approaching February 2009 transition… and the level of awareness in the general public” particularly among diverse and low-income communities.
The bill would give the FCC $1.9 million in direct appropriations to manage audits of the universal service fund program. Giving the agency’s Office of Inspector General these funds as well as a transfer of $25.5 million from the fund itself “will result in a stronger and more independent oversight audit program,” the committee said.
The committee chided the FCC about the failed D-block auction, and instructed the commission to “learn from this failure and expeditiously rework the rules … so that first responders have an interoperable communications network.” The committee also suggested the FCC consider requiring that parts of the U.S. outside the 48 continuous states have equal access to satellite radio services. Right now, such services are unavailable or have limited availability in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Alaska and Hawaii.