Defiant FCC Chief Refuses To Delay Vote
by Jim Puzzanghera
WASHINGTON — Facing growing criticism of his agenda and tactics, a defiant Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, refused senators’ requests Thursday to delay a vote next week on his plan to loosen restrictions on owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same city.
Martin endured three hours of aggressive questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee, with members accusing him of rushing to help big media companies at the public’s expense.
“If you move ahead and do it, you’re a braver man than I am,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). She accused Martin of having an “obsession” with changing media ownership rules that was distracting the FCC from the more important issue of guiding the nation’s 2009 transition to digital television.
Amid complaints from within the commission and Capitol Hill about a lack of openness at the FCC, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) called for Congress next year to overhaul the agency’s procedures and alter its deregulatory bent.
“I am becoming increasingly concerned that the FCC appears to be more concerned about making sure the policies they advocate serve the needs of the companies that they regulate and their bottom lines rather than the public interest,” Rockefeller said. “We cannot allow this to happen.”
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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/14/5821/