[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2332 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2332

To promote transparency in the adoption of new media ownership rules by 
the Federal Communications Commission, and to establish an independent 
panel to make recommendations on how to increase the representation of 
           women and minorities in broadcast media ownership.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 8, 2007

Mr. Dorgan (for himself, Mr. Lott, Mr. Obama, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Kerry, Mr. 
   Nelson of Florida, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Biden, Mrs. 
Clinton, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote transparency in the adoption of new media ownership rules by 
the Federal Communications Commission, and to establish an independent 
panel to make recommendations on how to increase the representation of 
           women and minorities in broadcast media ownership.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Media Ownership Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. MEDIA OWNERSHIP REFORMS.

    Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-
104; 110 Stat. 110) is amended by--
            (1) redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (l); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following:
    ``(i) Notice and Public Comment Requirement.--
            ``(1) In general.--In modifying, revising, or amending any 
        of its regulations related to broadcast ownership, including 
        any ownership rule or limitation set forth under sections 
        73.3555, 73.658(g), or 76.501 of its regulations (47 C.F.R. 
        73.3555, 73.658(g), 76.501), the Commission shall--
                    ``(A) not later than 90 days prior to any vote by 
                the Commission on the adoption of such modification, 
                revision, or amendment publish such prospective 
                modification, revision, or amendment in the Federal 
                Register;
                    ``(B) after such publication provide the public at 
                least 60 days on which to comment on the prospective 
                modification, revision, or amendment; and
                    ``(C) upon the expiration of the 60-day comment 
                period described under paragraph (2), have not less 
                than 30 days in which to reply to any such comments.
            ``(2) Effective date.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The notice and public 
                requirements under paragraph (1) shall apply to any 
                attempt by the Commission to modify, revise, or amend 
                its regulations related to broadcast and newspaper 
                ownership made after October 1, 2007.
                    ``(B) Failure to comply.--If the Commission fails 
                to comply with the notice and public requirements under 
                paragraph (1) with respect to any modification, 
                revision, or amendment to which such requirements 
                apply, then such modification, revision, or amendment 
                shall be vitiated and shall be of no force and effect.
    ``(j) Promotion of Local Content in Media.--Before voting on any 
change in the broadcast and newspaper ownership rules, the Commission 
shall initiate, conduct, and complete a separate rulemaking proceeding 
to promote the broadcast of local programming and content by 
broadcasters, including radio and television broadcast stations, and 
newspapers. Before issuing a final rule, the Commission shall--
            ``(1) conduct a study to determine the overall impact of 
        television station duopolies and newspaper-broadcast cross-
        ownership on the quantity and quality of local news, public 
        affairs, local news media jobs, and local cultural programming 
        at the market level;
            ``(2) publish a proposed final rule in the Federal Register 
        not later than 90 days prior to any vote by the Commission on 
        the adoption of the rule;
            ``(3) after such publication provide the public at least 60 
        days on which to comment on the prospective rule; and
            ``(4) upon the expiration of the 60-day comment period 
        described in paragraph (3), have not less than 30 days in which 
        to reply to any such comments.
    ``(k) Independent Panel on Women and Minority Ownership of 
Broadcast Media.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Commission shall establish and 
        convene an independent panel on women and minority ownership of 
        broadcast media to make recommendations to the Commission for 
        specific Commission rules to increase the representation of 
        women and minorities in the ownership of broadcast media.
            ``(2) Census.--The Commission shall--
                    ``(A) conduct a full and accurate census of the 
                race and gender of individuals holding a controlling 
                interest in broadcast station licensee;
                    ``(B) provide the results of the census to the 
                panel for its consideration before it makes any 
                recommendation to the Commission; and
                    ``(C) study the impact of media market 
                concentration on the representation of women and 
                minorities in the ownership of broadcast media based on 
                the data in the census and report the results of that 
                study to the panel for its consideration before it 
                makes any recommendation to the Commission.
            ``(3) Consideration of panel's recommendations.--The 
        Commission shall act on the panel's recommendations before 
        voting on any changes to its broadcast and newspaper ownership 
        rules.''.
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