Murdoch seeks waiver from ownership rule, permanently. Scary stuff.

[madfloridian]

http://www.nynewsday.com/business/ny-bzpost0924,0,3006445.story

SNIP..."BY HARRY BERKOWITZ
STAFF WRITER
September 23, 2004, 5:52 PM EDT

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is seeking a permanent waiver from a government rule so that it could continue to own both the New York Post and WWOR/Ch. 9.

The company, which also owns WNYW/Ch. 5, filed with the Federal Communications Commission this week, saying continued uncertainty over whether the rule will be enforced "threatens the continued development of the Post."

Last year, the FCC voted to loosen media ownership restrictions in a way that would end the ban on owning both a newspaper and a TV station in a big metropolitan market. But before the new rules could go into effect, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled the FCC drafted them improperly and told the FCC to try again, a process that could take years.

SNIP..."Owning two VHF TV stations and a daily newspaper won't pass muster with any analysis the FCC could come up with," Schwartzman said. "Newspapers and television stations are the most powerful forces shaping public opinion."

SNIP.."The New York media market is "both extraordinarily diverse and intensely competitive," News Corp., whose holdings also include the Fox network and Fox News Channel, said in its FCC filing...."

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. More entitlement programs for white males.

This has gotten old.

[Liberal Gramma]

2. My first appointment

were I Kerry, would be ANYONE ELSE for FEC chairman. Powell has to go.