Senators warn FCC against voting on rule

Pressure mounted Monday for the delay of a vote set for today to ease a ban on a company owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same city, with 25 senators issuing an unusual warning.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin gave no sign he would back down in his push to loosen the 32-year-old ban. A letter from the senators said that if he didn’t, “we will immediately move legislation that will revoke and nullify the proposed rule.”

Martin wants to allow cross-ownership in the nation’s top 20 markets, with provisions for waivers in smaller cities. His proposal is supported by some media companies, including Tribune Co., owner of The Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5, and opposed by many public interest groups and lawmakers.

Members of Congress from both parties have urged Martin to delay the vote. They assert that the public hasn’t had enough time to file comments on his plan, released Nov. 13, and that the FCC has failed to address problems caused by media consolidation, such as the low percentage of broadcast stations owned by women and minorities.

Martin has refused requests to slow down, saying the FCC has been considering the changes for 18 months.

The letter was signed by a bipartisan group led by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The senators’ letter said they wanted Martin to “understand the consequences of ignoring the need for and the right of the American people to play a constructive role” in revising the media ownership rules.

After the FCC loosened media ownership rules in 2003, eliminating the cross-ownership ban, the Senate passed a resolution of disapproval. The House never voted on the rare legislation, which reverses a government agency action. Congress later scaled back one of the changes and a federal court halted the rest.

Commissioner Michael J. Copps, a Democrat who opposes easing the cross-ownership rule, said Martin was risking legal troubles again if he didn’t delay the vote, adding that the chairman had given no indication that he would do so.

“I think it’s an open invitation for judicial problems,” Copps said Monday.

An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the senators’ letter or Martin’s plans.

Martin and his fellow Republicans hold a 3-2 majority at the FCC and his plan is expected to be approved on a party-line vote. Dorgan is prepared to quickly try to block the plan if it is adopted, his spokesman Barry Piatt said.

“One would think that at some point the chairman would wake up and smell the coffee here,” Piatt said.

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com