More Time for Media Study Comments

The Federal Communications Commission’s ambitious initiative to review the nation’s media-ownership restrictions fell slightly behind schedule Tuesday as the agency agreed to extend the public-comment period by 30 days.

But FCC officials said they still hoped to complete the comprehensive review by next spring as planned.

Under pressure from consumer groups and Democratic Commissioner Michael J. Copps, FCC Media Bureau Chief W. Kenneth Ferree agreed to give interested parties until Jan. 2 to respond to a dozen media studies released last month by the commission. The studies tried to measure whether rising media consolidation has reduced the diversity of viewpoints expressed on television.

The FCC’s review of the decades-old media rules is expected to result in the relaxation or suspension of some restrictions that regulate the ownership of television broadcasters, newspapers, radio stations and other media companies.

Since releasing the studies, the commission received six petitions requesting that the agency extend the deadline for public comment. Copps and others also called for public hearings, though Ferree has questioned the usefulness of hearings and did not grant one in Tuesday’s order.

One consumer group criticized the extension as inadequate. “The FCC should have granted much more time, including an agreement to hold field hearings,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “This FCC proceeding makes a mockery of what should be the model of an informed debate.”

Also in its order Tuesday, the FCC agreed to release some of the underlying data used in the 12 studies and to make study authors available to those seeking more information about how research was conducted.