The FCC should keep the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules that were reinstated...

The FCC should keep the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rules that were reinstated by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia over the summer, a foe of media mergers and acquisitions told the agency. “Maintaining or tightening, and in either event, enforcing the ownership limits would best promote diversity, localism, competition and efficient use of the broadcast spectrum -- the public interest goals that lie at the heart of the Commission’s Quadrennial Media Ownership review,” Free Press said. It reported in a filing Wednesday in docket 09-182 (http://xrl.us/bmive5) that the group’s executives met with an aide to Commissioner Michael Copps. A draft rulemaking notice in the quadrennial review proposes to restore a cross-ownership waiver rule that’s similar to one remanded to the agency by the 3rd Circuit (CD Nov 9 p1).