Allowing station and newspaper combinations, the National Association of Media Brokers contends, would “be a step forward to enhancing public service without any meaningful impact on diversity.”
Brokers Seek End To Crossownership Ban
The National Association of Media Brokers (NAMB) is asking the FCC to eliminate the current newspaper/broadcast crossownership restrictions, both for radio and television, without any changes in current broadcast ownership limits.
In a letter to the commission, NAMB said: “History shows that much of the broadcast industry was birthed by newspapers, which proved to be admirable stewards of the public trust. Specialization and regulation over the years has, to a large extent, separated ownership of the two. However, allowing newspaper/broadcast combinations in today’s marketplace, where there are so many choices for reading, viewing and listening, can only strengthen local content and public service.
“This recommendation,” the group continued, “is not made for the purpose of increasing our business or to rescue newspapers or AM radio stations. Frankly, we believe eliminating newspaper/broadcast crossownership restrictions would not generate a significant wave of such transactions. It would, however, be a step forward to enhancing public service without any meaningful impact on diversity. At first you might believe this would be a path mostly for newspapers to invest in broadcast stations, but the reverse also can be expected, especially in smaller markets.”
Comments (1)
Brian Bussey says:
May 22, 2014 at 9:55 am
of course they would. they are brokers.. margin leeches at best. newspaper journalists had standards that were tranfered to broadcast newsrooms. compare that to widely distributed trash like FAUX News. how is it possible that a news room can recieve talking points from a political party and then distort the news to align with the talking points from the political party. This is Nazi Germany. This is not America. We ought to be tired of Wall Street margin pimps trying to dictate policy to line their pockets at the American people’s expense. These brokers need to be taxed at 50% for the economic activity they take out of the US economy.