DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES HOPE TO EXPLOIT OWNERSHIP ISSUE

Congressional and industry sources with Democratic ties said polls showed a majority of both Republicans and Democrats were nervous about media companies’ gaining more power. Despite that, Bush supported FCC Chmn. Powell’s changes in media ownership rules, which brought public outcry and efforts on Capitol Hill to overturn them. “Media ownership provides a stark dividing line between the candidates and Bush,” a congressional source said. “The public says the media shouldn’t have more power, but Bush is on record supporting it. It’s a natural issue for candidates to raise.”

Perhaps no one has criticized it more often, or more emphatically, than Dean. In Nov., he raised eyebrows by telling the Washington Post he supported some “re-regulation” of American business (CD Dec 24 p2), a position many industry observers thought was targeted mainly at media companies. “This issue is still getting bigger and bigger,” a congressional source said, and Hill consideration of the omnibus appropriations bill in Jan. is likely to keep media ownership in the headlines.

Dean was speaking out against the FCC’s loosening media ownership rules even before the Commission took the action. On May 27, a week before the FCC voted to relax ownership restrictions, he wrote Powell, urging him to: (1) Delay the agency’s vote. (2) Testify before Congress about the issue. (3) Consider additional public input on a decision he said “affects every American.” Dean said: “This proposed deregulation threatens the ideals of America -- the ideals of openness, free speech, free expression and free discussion, which are the backbone of our Constitution and our democracy.”

In his letter, Dean told Powell that the issue was “foremost on people’s minds.” He said: “I am asked about it everywhere -- in small towns in New Hampshire and in major cities across the nation. Yet the FCC appears poised to ignore the interests of regular Americans by allowing a few massive conglomerates to gobble up our local news sources.” The Telecom Act of 1996 led to a 30% decline in independent radio, he said, and cross-ownership restrictions shouldn’t be lifted. Dean didn’t specifically mention the broadcast ownership cap, which became the focus of congressional action.

Dean has taken other opportunities to criticize the rule changes, usually by praising efforts to stall or defeat them. He issued news releases praising: (1) The House for including a 35% broadcast ownership cap in its Commerce- Justice-State appropriations bills. (2) The 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, for ordering a stay of the rules. (3) The Senate for passing a “legislative veto” of the FCC rules sponsored by Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.).

With a few notable exceptions, the other candidates haven’t focused as closely on media ownership as Dean, although all appear to oppose the reforms enacted by the FCC. Sen. Edwards (D-N.C.) issued a statement after the FCC’s June 2 vote decrying the decision, as did several other candidates.

Rep. Kucinich (D-O.) displays the issue prominently on his Web site. He said he was the only candidate to file “formal objections” with the FCC over its changes in media ownership criteria. He vowed, if elected, to break up media conglomerates and create public media outlets controlled by community boards. He also said he would promote the process through which citizens could challenge media license renewals. Kucinich said he would get the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas because media companies were using the treaties to lobby for the creation of trade sanctions against countries that funded public broadcasting, limited foreign ownership of media or established standards for local content. Kucinich touts free air time for candidates and other campaign finance reforms.

In addition to opposing the FCC’s media ownership changes, Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) is making an issue of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) effort to buy broadcast stations. He wrote Powell this month urging him to block any attempt by the NRA to get a media exemption for any station it owned. “We urge you to prevent the NRA from hijacking America’s airwaves with the gun lobby’s money,” Kerry said. “If the NRA has something to say, it can play by the rules, just like the millions of people in America who do every day.”

There is very little material relating to media ownership in the campaign literature of Rep. Gephardt (D- Mo.), Senate Governmental Affairs ranking Democrat Lieberman (Conn.), retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, former Sen. Carol Braun (D-Ill.) or Rev. Al Sharpton. Lieberman voted in favor of Sen. Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) “legislative veto” of the FCC’s media ownership rules, which passed the Senate 55-40. Kerry was absent for the vote.

Lieberman touts a “family-friendly” agenda that faults the “heavy doses of glorified violence and casual sex” that children are exposed to through the media. He argues that parents, not the govt., should “manage children’s media diets.” But he said the govt. could do things to make the job easier for parents. Lieberman, a promoter of the V-chip and TV content ratings, said parents could be given better information.

Lieberman has called for more studies on how media images -- particularly violence -- affect children’s behavior. He said he would establish a new program at the National Institutes of Health to study “both the positive and negative consequences of children’s media use.” “The media environment is evolving at a dizzying pace, and our understanding of the risks as well as the rewards are not keeping pace,” he said. “In fact, it is relatively limited.” Lieberman also said he “was a leader in the effort to keep cable TV rates down.”