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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  contact:  December  4,  2002  Alex  Johns  at  (202)  418-  2000 
 COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS  WELCOMES  FIRST  HEARING  ON  MEDIA  CONCENTRATION 
 Commissioner  Michael  J.  Copps  reacted  today  to  the  FCC’s  decision  to  hold  the  first  media  concentration  public  hearing:  “I  have  been  calling  for  hearings  for  several 
 months,  and  I  welcome  the  FCC’s  decision  to  hold  this  hearing.  I  don’t  believe  there  is  any  substitute  for  getting  out  and  talking  with  America  about  this  critical  decision.  We 
 must  not  rush  to  judgment  on  whether  to  scrap  our  media  concentration  protections.  A  hearing  in  Richmond  will  help  us  move  in  the  right  direction.” 


 Commissioner  Copps  continued,  “This  is  a  good  step  forward.  But  I  remain  convinced  we  need  to  have  other  hearings  in  diverse  venues  to  flesh  out  the  record 
 needed  for  this  single  most  important  decision  the  Commission  will  make  next  year.  That  means  listening  not  just  to  one  community,  but  giving  mid-  western  and  west  coast 
 Americans,  for  example,  access  to  the  FCC.  I  understand  budget  constraints  but  on  an  issue  of  this  profound  importance,  we  just  have  to  find  a  way  to  hear  from  more  folks 
 outside  the  Capital  Beltway.  I  am  looking  for  that  way  and  I  am  determined  to  find  it.” 
 At  issue  is  the  FCC’s  review  of  rules  that  seek  to  protect  localism,  independence,  and  diversity  in  the  media.  These  rules,  among  other  things,  currently  limit  a  single 
 corporation  from  dominating  local  TV  markets;  from  merging  a  community’s  TV  stations,  radio  stations,  and  newspaper;  from  merging  two  of  the  major  TV  networks;  and 
 from  controlling  more  than  35%  of  all  TV  households  in  the  nation. 
 “At  stake  in  this  proceeding  are  our  core  values  of  localism,  diversity,  competition,  and  maintaining  the  multiplicity  of  voices  and  choices  that  undergird  our 
 marketplace  of  ideas  and  that  sustain  American  democracy,”  Copps  continued.  “With  such  important  values  at  stake,  we  ought  to  give  Americans  access  to  our  decision 
 making  process,  we  ought  to  rely  on  granular  evidence  and  engage  in  studied  analysis.” 
 -  FCC  - 
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