June 13, 2005
(Washington, DC) – “The Supreme Court today reaffirmed what we already knew – the FCC went too far in permitting the mergers between dominant local newspapers and TV stations, the most important sources of local news and information. This decision is a clear signal to the FCC that any change in media ownership rules must reflect today’s environment and not a zealous, overreaching deregulation agenda.
“Consumers have the right to a diverse and independent media, covering a range of issues and presenting different points of view. Today’s decision helps ensure that what consumers read in the morning newspaper isn’t verbatim what they see on the 6 o’clock news.
“While this decision is good news for consumers, the battle over media ownership is far from over. We must remain vigilant to ensure efforts to allow a few companies to dominate the major sources of local news and information don’t succeed. We are extremely hopeful the new FCC chairman will revisit these issues with a better understanding of how important a diverse and independent local media is to a community.”
Gene Kimmelman is the Senior Director, Public Policy for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publishers of Consumer Reports. More information related to media ownership issues can be found by visiting HearUsNow.org.
For more information contact: Matt Hartwig 202-462-6262