FCC, local media talk ownership rules

The consolidation of media outlets was vilified and defended at a Federal Communications Commission workshop Tuesday that focused on cross-ownership of newspapers and television stations.

FCC representatives heard from an 11-member panel of local media representatives and some critics of cross-ownership in which one company owns both a newspaper and television station in the same market.

They also heard from about 15 people who spoke out at the sparsely attended four-hour session at the University of South Florida, which drew an audience of about 35.

The issue apparently is not as volatile as in 2007, when hundreds turned out to sound off against cross-ownership at a similar workshop in Tampa. And some of those who spoke wandered off topic to urge the FCC to support more low-power radio stations and local public access cable channels.

Local media representatives such as Ken Tonning, general manager of WTSP, Channel 10, said the government should get out of the way in these tough economic times and allow media companies to find innovative ways to operate.

John R. Schueler, president of Media General's Florida Communications Group, said the company's ownership of The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and WFLA, Channel 8, as well as the company's community newspapers, has produced a successful business model that makes it possible to continue to fund journalism. Media General's Tampa holdings were grandfathered in when the FCC banned cross-ownership in 1975.

He acknowledged there have been newsroom layoffs and budget cuts in the past two years but said most media outlets have done the same as the industry struggles to deal with a sluggish economy and increased competition from the Internet. He said the company's newsrooms in Tampa would have been even more affected without the benefits of owning a newspaper and a television station.

In recent years, with the rise of cable television and the Internet, media companies have been seeking repeal or relaxation of the cross-ownership ban.

Critics of cross-ownership on the panel included Robert Dardenne, chairman of the journalism department at the University of South Florida, and Bernard Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild. They argued that consolidation of media outlets leads to less content, fewer journalists and less diversity in newsrooms.

Also opposing cross-ownership was Patrick Manteiga, publisher of Tampa's trilingual newspaper La Gaceta. He said Media General's combined resources make it difficult for a small enterprise to compete.