WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Commerce Committee approved today S.J. 28, a Joint Resolution disapproving a February 22, 2008 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule allowing for increased media consolidation. The resolution, introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), would overturn the FCC ruling (Report and Order FCC 07-216), which allowed for cross ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the top 20 markets in the United States.

“It is clear to me that the Commission rushed its process,” said Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii). “The agency rolled back its rules preventing media concentration, despite getting a cautionary light from the Congress that more public comment and more attention to localism and minority ownership was needed before barreling ahead.”