White House Drops Effort to Relax Media Ownership Rules

[Rose Siding]

The Bush administration has decided to abandon the effort by Michael K. Powell, the outgoing chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to relax the regulations that have prevented the nation's largest media companies from growing bigger and entering new markets, government officials and industry lawyers briefed about the decision said today.

In a final slap at Mr. Powell, the Justice Department will not ask the United States Supreme Court to consider a decision last year by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia that sharply criticized the attempt to deregulate the rules and ordered the commission to reconsider its action.
...
If, as now expected, the appeals court decision withstands legal challenge by some media companies, it would prevent the biggest media conglomerates from expanding.

It also would return the rules back to the commission for further consideration. Lawmakers and some officials predicted that whoever succeeds Mr. Powell would be unlikely to embark on a course of wholesale deregulation of the media rules in light of the political furor that Mr. Powell's plan provoked. But they also said the agency could ultimately reconsider and relax a smaller number of the rules.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/business/27cnd-media.html?ex=1264568400&en=b0f560bbece8fb57&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

[Cha]

1. Does this mean something good

is happening in our favor? Why would they "drop" this?

[Rex]

2. They don't need it or him anymore

nt

[KittyWampus]

3. Williams May Very Well Be Iceberg Tip. There's Lots Of FOIA Out There

looking into Media bias.

And deregulating was very unpopular across the board amongst Americans.

[struggle4progress]

5. It means that they've already largely succeeded. eom

[Cha]

8. Right! How much more airwaves

could they possibly have?

Sounds like the want to discredit the whole Powell name!

[PATRICK]

12. They distrust the Powell faction

and making alliances with fewer supermedia moguls is a giant chip they would rather see a bit weakened by good old fashioned competition. It is like a developing checks and balances systems among the bad buys, media, politics, corporate dinosaurs etc, with none allowed to get a monopoly of power on the whole if their "friends" have anything to do with it.

Like any intra gang war or War of the Roses it will do the people or the civil institutions no good whatsoever, a further example of the extreme degeneracy of "elitist" government on the RW model. of course, in the neat world of high finance these look to us like bloodless, mysterious affairs where the presumed conspiracies and alliances reach their limits and heads begin to roll inside the protected clubs.

[rocktivity]

4. They were going to do it all along

Bush is staying in office; the MSM helped him do it amid promises of favorable media legislation; now they're not going to get what they were promised. Business as usual, GOP style, right down to spinning it as a poisonus idea that the departing Powell The Younger had. Maybe the Armstrong Williams revelation was part of the scam: "It's out of our hands--we couldn't push it through now if we wanted to! Think of how it would look!" Will the MSM turn on Georgie instead? I guess we'll have to stay tuned...

:headbang:
rocknation

[stillcool]

6. Not for nothing, but...

is it me, or is there blood in the water? I think things are going to start shaking out. Of course, I've been here before.

[Supersedeas]

10. Time will tell.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. .

[maddezmom]

9. kick

[Mills Street]

11. Poor Sinclair

They put all that effort into Promoting Bush every underhanded way they knew how, and it was all for nothing.

[WCGreen]

13. I think this has to do with the attempt by some

media investors to mount a hostile take over of the Rupert Murdock's Media empire......

Remember a few months back when Saudi investors stepped in to block a hostile takeover of Murdock's company.......

Stay tuned folks.......

[aikido15]

14. Thanks to the activists, AGAIN!

A major grassroots effort beat out lobbyists such as Viacom and CBS. This is a major accomplishment for progressives...

Woooo hoooo!

Thanks to all who stop bitching long enough to take action for a worthy cause!