On issues of media consolidation and monopoly, Wisconsin Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold have "gotten it" for a long time.

Kohl, as a key player on the Senate subcommittee that deals with antitrust issues, was a vital voice in the fight against the move in 2003 by the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate rules that guarantee competition in local media markets. A letter from the senator and a Republican colleague outlined bipartisan concern regarding the threat to the democratic discourse and the public's right to know that arises when one company is allowed to combine local daily and weekly newspapers, radio stations and television stations into a one-size-fits-all monopoly.

Unfortunately, the media giants that seek to boost their profits by crushing competition and diversity do not give up easily.

Corporate lobbyists have again succeeded in getting the Federal Communications Commission to reject bipartisanship, ignore available data, and bypass standard practices for rule changes in order to go ahead with a new version of the plan to loosen restrictions on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. The committee's 3-2 majority, under the rigorously partisan leadership of Chairman Kevin Martin, even refused to consider requests from Republican senators, such as Alaska's Ted Stevens, that proper procedures be followed.

"It is clear to me that the commission rushed its process," says Senate Commerce Committee Chair Daniel 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."

Now Congress is pushing back, with a resolution expressing formal disapproval of the FCC's move.

The chief sponsor of the move, North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, says the FCC "has come out in favor of more concentration in the media" at precisely the time when more diversity and localism are needed.

Dorgan's right.

His resolution, which has already been approved by the Commerce Committee, will be considered in short order by the full Senate.

Kohl and Feingold should cast enthusiastic votes in favor of this necessary move.

Rolling back the FCC's heavy-handed rule change is good for journalism, which is threatened by the moves of big-media companies to consolidate newsrooms.

It's good for urban and rural communities in Wisconsin, which are best covered and best served by diverse and competitive media.

Most importantly, it's good for democracy, which thrives only when there is a vibrant debate fostered by newspapers, radio stations and television stations that are independent enough to consider events and issues from different perspectives.