Senate Rebuffs Murdoch, Turns Down Waiver

The Senate, in a 60-30 vote blow to media magnate Rupert Murdoch, today refused to grant a waiver permitting his continued ownership of the Boston Herald and the New York Post as long as he owns television stations in those cities.

But the action had no immediate effect since a federal district court earlier this week granted Murdoch a temporary restraining order, which forbids the Federal Communications Commission to revoke Murdoch’s current waiver for at least 45 days after the court makes its final ruling.

Murdoch, whom Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R-Conn.) described as the “No. 1 dirt-bag owner” of newspapers and television stations, has been the center of a controversy over changes to an FCC rule that forbids cross-ownership of a newspaper and television stations in the same media market.

Extension Blocked

In December, the Senate included a provision drafted by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in a catch-all money bill that precluded the FCC from extending Murdoch’s waivers of the cross-ownership rule. The waivers, designed to give Murdoch sufficient time to sell the conflicting properties, were scheduled to expire March 6 for the New York properties and June 30 for the Boston enterprises.

Critics said Murdoch made no move to sell the newspapers or television stations and instead formed a foundation whose purpose was to lobby for the repeal of the cross-ownership rule.

After a heated debate today, the Senate voted to kill an amendment offered by Sen. Steven D. Symms (R-Ida.) that would enable the FCC to resume issuing waivers as it saw fit.

Symms argued that the unprofitable New York Post would fold without Murdoch’s subsidy from his broadcast property and hinted Kennedy was carrying out a vendetta against the publisher. Kennedy, in a written statement, denied the allegations.