Last-minute attempt in Congress to kill “NBCO” – the Newspaper-Broadcast cross-ownership ban. The NAB’s Gordon Smith recognizes it as an important step, if the legislation proposed by both Republicans and Democrats could speed its way through the House (where it’s starting), the Senate and the White House. We don’t know whether President Obama would sign it. But we surely know that his chosen FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler, wouldn’t be in favor. Wheeler refused to substantially relax or eliminate the 41-year-old rule forbidding combinations of local daily papers and broadcast facilities. (He did add a “failing newspaper” waiver, similar to the “failing TV station” policy.) So the drive to kill the cross-ownership rule (actually two of them) is underway both at the FCC, in an NAB petition for reconsideration, and now in Congress. On another track, NAB has asked to be a “party at interest” in the Third Circuit appeal of Wheeler’s Quadrennial Review. The concern among Congressional Republicans is that either Dems will remain in control of the FCC in the first part of 2017, or that a 2-2 Commission wouldn’t deal with cross-ownership. NAB’s Gordon Smith says “striking this cross-ownership ban would save journalism jobs, create more investigative reporting and provide communities with greater local news.” The bill in this lame-duck session of the 114th Congress is co-sponsored by onetime Oregon radio station owner Rep. Greg Walden (a Republican) and Kentucky Democrat John Yarmuth.
There are zero circumstances in which this will be true. No jobs will be saved if a company can own even more media outlets in a market. Jobs will be cut. Period. That's what has always happened (without exception) and that's what will happen again.
I'm not right all the time (see the past election), but I've never been wrong about this. It was addressed in my book "$everance" and I stand by that book. The predictions I made ten years ago are sadly all coming true.
