Media Contact:
Matthew Berry, (202) 418-2005
matthew.berry@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
On Media Ownership Proposal
WASHINGTON, June 29, 2016.—The FCC’s rules should reflect the media marketplace of 
today.  Unfortunately, Chairman Wheeler’s media ownership proposal reflects the world that existed in 
the 1970s.  
Last month, the FCC had no problem approving not one, but two multibillion dollar cable 
mergers.  Last year, it signed off on AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV.  Yet, it now gets the vapors at the 
prospect of a newspaper in Scranton, Pennsylvania owning a single radio station.  Whatever the 
motivation for the Chairman’s proposal, it has nothing to do with the evidence in the record, principled 
decision-making, or the law.  Indeed, given current trends, it is likely that the Commission’s newspaper-
broadcast cross-ownership restrictions will outlive the print newspaper industry itself.  
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Office of Commissioner Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000
Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai
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. Cir. 1974).