Public-Interest Groups Defend FCC's Broadcast-Ownership Rules Promoting Competition, Diversity and Localism on Air

WASHINGTON — On Friday, six public-interest, media-reform, media-justice and labor organizations joined to file an amicus curiae brief defending the Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast-ownership rules against an industry challenge in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The six groups are Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America-National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Free Press, the Future of Music Coalition, the musicFIRST Coalition and the United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc. (“UCC Media Justice”). All of these entities have long participated in FCC proceedings and court cases on this issue. Attorneys Cheryl Leanza and Rachel Stillwell authored and filed the brief on the groups’ behalf.

The FCC’s media-ownership rules are designed to promote competition, viewpoint diversity, ownership diversity and the delivery of local content by broadcast stations licensed to serve communities all across the United States. A series of deregulatory decisions the agency has made over the last two decades has significantly pared back these rules. The FCC undergoes a congressionally mandated review of these regulations every four years.

Prior legal challenges from both industry groups and public-interest organizations have played out in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. This time, the broadcast industry brought its suit in a different circuit. Broadcasting conglomerates and the trade groups representing them argue that the Biden FCC should eliminate more of the few ownership limits that remain on the books.

As today’s amicus brief explains, broadcast lobbyists suggest that their businesses should no longer be regulated because people already have access to the same kinds of content on the internet. The broadcasters’ assertion, the brief says, would “leave out of the picture the many Americans who do not fit their vision of a life lived completely online, consuming only national news and culture.” As the filing notes, millions of people in the United States still need to or choose to rely primarily on free broadcasting services for local news, cultural content and emergency information that broadcast outlets distribute more reliably than internet sources.

Free Press Vice President of Policy and General Counsel Matt Wood said:

“As always, the broadcast industry wants to have its cake and eat it too. Lawyers for giant media conglomerates argue that free and over-the-air local broadcasting remains a unique and special service, yet also insist that their industry should be completely unfettered from any common-sense ownership limits because of competition from internet sources. They can’t have it both ways. For broadcasting to remain a source of diverse and truly local content — serving populations that national and homogenized news sources so often ignore — the Federal Communications Commission must retain its rules preventing a single company from dominating the airwaves or owning quite literally every broadcast outlet in the same city.”

United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry Policy Advisor Cheryl Leanza said:

“Broadcast media is unique: Local television engenders more trust, more local news and thus more local engagement on everything from elections to community needs. Local radio is an important means to preserve and enliven local culture. Previous FCC decisions permitting vast consolidation have been disastrous — for the court to reverse the most recent FCC decision to keep the remaining rules and close loopholes would be even more so. In line with multiple other federal court decisions, the Eighth Circuit should reject any hint that each iteration of the quadrennial-review process mandates further consolidation.”

Common Cause Director for Media and Democracy Ishan Mehta said:

“In this era of media consolidation, we need local television and radio stations to provide a much-needed avenue for the public to hear diverse voices as they seek to make informed decisions at the ballot box. When media outlets are owned by a small number of corporations, it narrows the available perspectives and stifles the investigative journalism that our democracy depends on. We ask the court to preserve the FCC’s role in protecting diversity and furthering competition to ensure a healthy media ecosystem for all Americans.”

NABET-CWA President Charlie Braico said:

“Locally owned broadcast television and radio stations, and the jobs they create, are critical to the well-being of our communities. Consolidation in the media industry and Wall Street's downsizing and stripping of local news operations for profits, along with the 'narrowcasting" of information on the internet, has left Americans more isolated and divided than ever. The FCC's ability to enforce local broadcast ownership rules is critical to preventing further harm.”

Future of Music Coalition Director Kevin Erickson said:

“Radio is a medium uniquely equipped to uplift the voices of diverse local communities expressed through diverse American musical traditions. Sadly, as we’ve seen over the years, ownership consolidation has empowered large companies and private-equity firms to move away from the live and local emphasis that makes AM/FM radio special, replacing regional character with narrow formats and repetitive playlists presented by robots. We’re proud to join with a diverse array of groups in defending the FCC’s important role in protecting ownership diversity and healthy competition.”