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See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  NEWS MEDIA CONTACT
November 27, 2007   Rick Chessen:    202 418 2000
 
STATEMENT BY COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS ON DELETION OF 
MINORITY MEDIA OWNERSHIP ITEM FROM TODAY’S AGENDA MEETING
I'm pleased that we have avoided a premature vote on minority and female ownership.  
It’s not that this subject doesn’t need our urgent attention.  It does.  Just today, Free Press 
released a new study showing that during the past year the number of minority-owned full-power
commercial television stations declined by 8.5%, and the number of African American-owned 
full-power commercial television stations decreased by nearly 60%.  It is almost inconceivable 
that the shameful state of affairs could be getting worse, and yet here we are.
But while we need to act quickly, we must not act recklessly.  Just a few months ago, we 
belatedly put out for comment dozens of proposals from our own Diversity Committee and 
others that had been gathering dust for years at the FCC.  At the time, I expressed concern that 
the process was becoming eerily reminiscent of former Chairman Michael Powell’s rush to 
judgment four years ago when he rammed through consolidation that would have, had it not been 
subsequently reversed, inflicted incalculable injury on America’s media.  
Nothing has happened in the past few months to alleviate my concerns.  To the contrary, 
when the Media Bureau denied a request for a brief extension of time to file reply comments 
from both the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council and the NAB, and then we 
subsequently received a draft Order addressing these complex issues with only three working 
days to meet with interested parties, it started to feel more and more like—if you’ll pardon the 
expression—a whitewash.
Thankfully, we now have time to get it right. I hope we will have the good sense to do 
that instead of picking an arbitrary date to complete big media's wishlist. We should start by 
getting an accurate count of minority and female ownership.  We also should heed the call of 
Commissioner Adelstein and many others to convene an independent panel to review the 
proposals.  Most importantly, given the destructive impact of media consolidation on 
opportunities for minorities and women to compete for a share of the people’s spectrum, we must 
act on these issues before voting on any proposals permitting big media to get even bigger.