The Media Get the Message

The Federal Communications Commission was worrying about media monopolies long before Spiro Agnew ever left Maryland. Last week the FCC finally moved to curb joint broadcasting-publishing companies that it considers to hold "undue influence on local public opinion." It promulgated a rule forbidding the owner of any TV station, AM-FM radio operation or newspaper to acquire another outlet in the same community.

At the same time, the FCC proposed for future action a drastic follow-up regulation that would break up existing multiple-media combines in local markets. The second measure--which faces a long and undoubtedly contentious inquiry before it can take effect--would require present owners to reduce their holdings to one communications property per city within five years.

Backers of the FCC proposal point to the eleven U.S. cities where the only TV station is controlled by the sole publisher. Opponents contend that such a regulation might ultimately defeat the FCC purpose of diversifying editorial voices in the nation. In some areas, the economics of one-building ownership keep a marginal paper in business or allow for a more forceful joint news operation. The issue is packed with legal and economic complexities. FCC proposals are frequently emasculated by broadcast-industry lobbyists and their friends in Congress, and those that survive to become regulations are subject to judicial review.

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