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from: TV Newsday

House Sets Media Ownership Hearing for Dec. 6

November 2, 2007

The Committee on Energy and Commerce announced today that it will hold a hearing on Thursday, Dec. 6, to explore issues relating to media ownership and the FCC’s pending media ownership proceeding. The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will jointly preside over the hearing.

“The decision about how many media outlets can be owned by one person or company is not a decision to be taken lightly,” said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), the committee’s chairman. “The committee intends to ensure that the FCC considers this matter carefully and thoughtfully.”

“A diversity of viewpoints in the media is important to a free flow of information in our democracy”, said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. “As chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I intend to look carefully at how the FCC has approached media ownership issues and ensure that the FCC’s media ownership studies provide a balanced accounting of the facts, not one-sided justification for more media concentration.”

“Media diversity and localism are vital to the citizens of the country and critical to vibrant civic discourse, and independent local news and information in communities around the nation,” said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. “Congress has an important role to play in reviewing any proposal that will impact the acceptable level of concentration of media properties in a community. I look forward to this hearing and the opportunity to publicly review and debate any FCC proposals for new ownership rules.”