John McCain and the FCC media ownership fight

The furor over Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin’s move to relax the agency’s newspaper/TV cross ownership ban got a little more political this week as Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a resolution on Wednesday disapproving of the December 2007 decision. The Senate statement declares that the new rule “shall have no force or effect.” Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have both co-sponsored the declaration along with seven other Democrats and four Republicans.

None of those Republicans include the GOP’s choice for the White House, Senator John McCain of Arizona. How will McCain vote on this issue? If past performance is an indicator, he’ll oppose Dorgan and support the FCC’s ruling.

Is the fight against media consolidation bipartisan?

In 2003, former FCC Chair Michael Powell ushered through a suite of far more draconian changes to the Commission’s media ownership guidelines, including scotching the agency’s newspaper/TV cross-ownership ban and restraint against TV duopolies in regional markets. In response, the Prometheus Radio Project, the Media Access Project, and several other groups filed a lawsuit with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The court rescinded most of the FCC’s action the following year. But before that, the Senate issued a statement of disapproval in July of 2003, similar to Dorgan’s latest.

Media reform groups like to characterize opposition to media consolidation as bipartisan. And sure enough, several prominent Republicans endorsed the 2003 resolution, among them Mississippi’s Trent Lott. But of the bill’s 24 co-sponsors, all but four were Democrats and independent Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Once the law got to the Senate floor, only Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia voted no. In contrast, thirty-eight Senate Republicans opposed the measure, including John McCain.

As with most issues, the senator from Arizona likes to present himself as a maverick on media regulation. McCain voted against the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which required the FCC to regularly review its media ownership rules. To the delight of some consumer groups, he strongly supports so called “a la carte” cable reform, which would require cable providers to allow consumers to pick and choose which channels they want to buy, or at least offer smaller tiers. McCain has also backed legislation that would set aside technical road blocks to setting up a low power FM station.

But on the big-ticket broadcasting/telecom issues, McCain plays to big media and the telcos. Along with 33 Senate Republicans and no Democrats, he’s a co-sponsor of the Broadcaster Freedom Act, which would permanently bar the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. As for net neutrality, he calls for minimal government regulation of broadband. “When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment,” McCain told All Things Digital writer Kara Swisher in May.

Consistent with his earlier stance on the FCC’s 2003 ruling, McCain declined late last year to co-sponsor a Senate bill that would have put the brakes on FCC Chair Martin’s rush to change the Commission’s newspaper/TV cross-ownership rule. Martin got the change enacted after barely two weeks of public comment by a narrow 3 to 2 partisan majority. The Byron Dorgan/Trent Lott
Media Ownership Act of 2007, launched in early November, would require the FCC to publish a proposed final media ownership rule at least 90 days before a vote, setting aside at least 90 days for public comment. Upon passage, the Dorgan bill would retroactively cover any changes made to the FCC’s broadcast ownership language prior to October 1, 2007, effectively nullifying the FCC’s decision. The proposed law has 24 co-sponsors. A debate on the legislation has not been scheduled.

Upcoming maneuvers

Could McCain change course on this issue and support Dorgan’s resolution? It’s a tough call (at least as tough as trying to get a McCain press spokesperson to return inquiries on the issue). Kevin Martin’s new newspaper/TV cross ownership Order comes with limits; it only lets entities buy newspapers and TV stations in the top 20 Nielsen designated markets. It’s a far less sweeping change than Powell’s in 2003, so opposing the move would stomp on fewer corporate toes (which is possibly why Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has come out against the provision). Supporting Dorgan might also assuage some suspicions raised by the New York Times’ recent expose about McCain’s close relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist.

On the other hand, big media players like the Tribune Company, Media General, and Gannett have already benefited from the new FCC policy and various ownership waivers. Expect them to lobby hard against the Dorgan/Lott resolution and the Media Ownership Act of 2007, a reality that will doubtless factor into McCain’s thinking, as it would any conservative presidential candidate.

And down the line, there’s another factor: Prometheus and the Media Access Project have again petitioned the Third Circuit Court of Appeals for yet another review of the FCC’s decision. That variable, however, is a long way off. Assuming that the Third Circuit agrees to hear the case, it will take months to file a briefing against the Commission’s newest guidelines on TV/newspaper cross ownership.

– By Matthew Lasar

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