The FCC and Deregulation of Ownership Caps

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On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to pass new rules which will effectively deregulate the communications industry. The changes would allow greater concentration of ownership of television stations and relax restrictions on owning a newspaper and TV station in the same city. While New York Times' columnist William Safire calls it -the great media gulp,- proponents of the changes say they-ve taken into account new technologies, fragmentation of the audience and greater competition which threaten the broadcast networks economic survival. Is bigger better, or is the FCC ignoring its duty to protect the public interest? Guest host Jim Moret weighs the impact of the new regulations with the CEO of a public interest law firm, a broadcast research analyst, the associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and a former FCC commissioner. Making News: Israel's Prime Minister Sharon Endorses Road Map Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today accepted a US-backed peace plan that would create a Palestinian state within three years. The endorsement came hours after the White House promised to -fully and seriously- address Israel-s concerns about the plan. However, speaking from Paris, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Washington did not intend to change the road map. Newsweek-s Dan Ephron tries to interpret the diplomatic rhetoric. Reporter's Notebook: The Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival is as much a carnival as it is a convention for filmmakers around the world to sell movies to distributors and create international buzz along the way. The 56th annual event is notably quiet by Cannes' standards, marred by transportation strikes, terrorist and health concerns, and political tensions. Irish Times film correspondent Michael Dwyer is covering the festival for his 22nd year.
On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to pass new rules which will effectively deregulate the communications industry. The changes would allow greater concentration of ownership of television stations and relax restrictions on owning a newspaper and TV station in the same city. While New York Times' columnist William Safire calls it -the great media gulp,- proponents of the changes say they-ve taken into account new technologies, fragmentation of the audience and greater competition which threaten the broadcast networks economic survival. Is bigger better, or is the FCC ignoring its duty to protect the public interest? Guest host Jim Moret weighs the impact of the new regulations with the CEO of a public interest law firm, a broadcast research analyst, the associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and a former FCC commissioner.
  • Making News: Israel's Prime Minister Sharon Endorses Road Map
    Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today accepted a US-backed peace plan that would create a Palestinian state within three years. The endorsement came hours after the White House promised to -fully and seriously- address Israel-s concerns about the plan. However, speaking from Paris, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Washington did not intend to change the road map. Newsweek-s Dan Ephron tries to interpret the diplomatic rhetoric.
  • Reporter's Notebook: The Cannes Film Festival
    The Cannes Film Festival is as much a carnival as it is a convention for filmmakers around the world to sell movies to distributors and create international buzz along the way. The 56th annual event is notably quiet by Cannes' standards, marred by transportation strikes, terrorist and health concerns, and political tensions. Irish Times film correspondent Michael Dwyer is covering the festival for his 22nd year.
JIM MORET
Jim Moret has had an extensive career in both local and national television news reporting over the past 20 years, including nearly a decade at CNN. Recently, Moret hosted a number of specials on ABC and co-hosted its Academy Awards pre-show and appeared in the feature A Mighty Wind and the television dramas The Practice and The West Wing.

Road Map to Peace

Secretary of State Powell-s statement on the road map

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

FCC-s Media Ownership Policy Reexamination

HD radio

Ibiquity

Sinclair Broadcasting Group

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Cannes Film Festival

Daily Variety

Credits

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Warren Olney