FCC to allow some newspaper-TV cross-ownership

Part of the language of the 1996 Telecomm Act directed the FCC to regularly examine its ownership rules, with an eye towards opening things up.  One of the last areas to be addressed has been the 1970s-era ban on newspaper-TV cross-ownership in the same market.  The FCC tried a slight loosening in 2007, only to have its proposed change overturned by the courts in July because the FCC had skimped on the public comments period.
  The FCC has already permitted a few cases of newspaper-TV cross-ownership to occur in New York and Boston - in both of those cases, however, there were at least two newspapers in the home market and the TV stations did not have a significant local news presence at the time.  The new proposed rule will permit newspaper -TV cross-ownership in the top 20 markets, as long as the TV station did not operate as a duopoly (did not own or operate a second station in the market).  Final establishment of the rules will be delayed until the 45-day public comments period has lapsed.
  The newspaper-broadcast station cross-ownership bans originated in the 1960s.  At the time, local newspapers owned many of the dominant radio and television stations in its market, and the concern was that this would limit diversity in news programming and growth of broadcasting.  The ban initially pertained to any broadcast outlet, but in the 1980s, the FCC allowed local newspapers to pick up radio outlets.  With the FCC waivers in some markets, the considerable expansion of news outlets, and general deregulatory thrust of the last 20 years, I made an argument for the idea of allowing newspaper-TV cross-ownership, as long as neither was the sole media outlet of that type in the market's main city.  While there might be some concern in terms of news diversity, a strong local TV station can help subsidize a newspaper's operations (particularly a second competitive daily) while expanding news coverage opportunities for both outlets.  Considering the current state of local newspaper revenues and profitability in the top 20 markets, perhaps it's time to consider this more as a policy move to save daily newspapers and promote local journalism rather than a shrinking of news content diversity.

Source: FCC to Ease Media Rule,  Wall Street Journal