Another Blow to Local Journalism

WASHINGTON -- Responding to today's interim decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on the Federal Communications Commission's media ownership rules, Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver said:

"We are disappointed that the Third Circuit decided to lift the stay and allow the relaxed newspaper-broadcast cross ownership rule from the Kevin Martin era to go into effect. Vibrant local news is vital for our democracy, and without competition, newsmakers and media are less accountable. Evidence suggests that merging newspaper and broadcast newsrooms hurts jobs and journalism. We hope the Federal Communications Commission will take decisive action to protect media diversity and to encourage competition in local news."