[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 3, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        OPPOSING FCC'S DECISION

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                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2003

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I oppose the decision of the 
Federal Communications Commission to increase the cap on media 
ownership.
  Yesterday, the five-member board of the Federal Communications 
Commission voted to allow one owner to control more stations within the 
same market and to allow television networks to acquire more stations. 
Until today, broadcast ownership rules limited networks to owning no 
more than a 35 percent share of television households. With this 
decision, that share rises to 45 percent. The FCC also voted to ease 
restrictions on media companies owning a newspaper and television 
station in the same market. These new rules will allow for more mergers 
and increased media consolidation across the country.
  This decision poses a threat to local programming in rural America. 
National programmers operate from a ``one-size-fits-all'' mentality and 
have less interest in the needs of our rural communities. If the 
networks acquire more of the local television affiliates, programming 
decisions are less likely to be made by local managers who have 
personal knowledge of the communities they serve.
  At the heart of our democracy is a free and diverse exchange of 
ideas. Placing the power of communication solely in the hands of a 
narrow group of media giants will undermine freedom of expression. 
Columnist William Safire expressed it best, ``The diffusion of power 
through local control, thereby encouraging individual participation, is 
the essence of federalism and the greatest expression of democracy.'' 
Yesterday's decision diminishes individual participation in the 
democratic process by suppressing one's ability to voice his or her 
opinion. Having fewer outlets for expression means that only a few 
voices will be heard: those of the large national programmers.
  These new regulations not only threaten to reduce the access to the 
local news, they infringe upon the ability to maintain an open forum 
for sharing opinions and ideas--the very democratic principals upon 
which our Nation was founded.

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