Curbs sought on new media ownership rules
WASHINGTON - Warning that the Buffalo and Rochester radio
markets are already heavily influenced by conglomerates, Rep. Louis M.
Slaughter said Monday she wants Congress to roll back some of the new media
ownership rules announced by the Federal Communications Commission.
The Fairport
Democrat noted that a large block of radio stations in Buffalo and Rochester
are operated by a very few owners.
That means, she
said, "Information and music played on 10 or more stations in both Buffalo
and Rochester are controlled by two huge conglomerates based outside the
region."
Pennsylvania-based
Entercom Communications owns six radio stations in Buffalo: WBEN-AM, WGR-AM,
WKSE-FM, WTSS-FM, WWKB-AM and WWWS-AM.
Infinity
Broadcasting, with headquarters in New York City, owns WBUF-FM, WBLK-FM,
WJYE-FM, WECK-AM and WYRK-FM.
In Rochester,
Texas-based Clear Channel Communications owns seven radio stations; Infinity
and Entercom each own four.
According to
spokesman Philippe Rienes, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is "very concerned
about the impact the FCC's party-line decision could have on the ability of
independent voices to be heard in communities around the country - especially
when it comes to issues that are of the greatest concern at the local
level." Said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.: "I worry in a democracy
about having too few sources of information."
Clinton, D-N.Y.,
said she plans to work with a bipartisan group of senators who share
"similar concerns" about the FCC's decision.
Slaughter has
written legislation that would prohibit any single television company from
reaching more than 35 percent of the American public. The FCC on Monday
increased the rule to 45 percent. Slaughter charged that FCC regulators
"and their staff have taken some 2,500 junkets" costing almost $3
million, paid for by the media industry.
The Center for
Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, said Monday the top 25 media
companies spent $26.7 million in campaign contributions to federal candidates,
and spent $82 million on lobbying the White House and Congress between 1999 and
2002.
AOL Time Warner,
which owns CNN, spent $6.2 million in campaign gifts and $15.8 million in
lobbying expenses. The Walt Disney Co., whose holdings include ABC and ESPN,
spent $2.8 million in campaign contributions and $16.7 million in lobbying expenses.
The Gannett Co.
gave only $35,000 to candidates, but devoted $1.8 million to lobbying.
Clear Channel's
lobbying expenses came to $80,675, and the company donated $705,000 to federal
candidates' campaigns.
But the research
center's Sheryl Fred said that since the start of this year, Clear Channel
hired four additional lobbying firms and set up a Washington office.
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