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 JOINT  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONERS  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS  AND  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN, 
 CONCURRING 
 Re:  Application  for  Consent  to  Assign  KTVF(  TV),  Fairbanks,  Alaska 
 In  this  case,  when  one  company,  AK  Media  Group,  purchased  a  television  station,  the  local  newspaper  paid  AK  Media  for  an  option  to  purchase  the  station  and  lent  AK 
 Media  a  small  portion  of  the  purchase  price.  In  addition,  the  newspaper  and  AK  Media  agreed  to  negotiate  to  develop  business  relationships  such  as  sharing  of  news  and  features 
 and  joint  sales  of  advertising. 
 We  concur  in  this  decision  because  there  is  no  evidence  in  the  record  that  those  negotiations  led  to  any  further  agreements  that  would  suggest  an  ownership  interest  by 
 the  newspaper.  Moreover,  as  the  Order  notes,  the  parties  are  obligated  under  Commission  rules  to  notify  the  Commission  if  they  reach  any  agreements  that  would  call 
 into  question  ownership  or  control  of  the  station.  Nonetheless,  we  believe  the  Commission  must  be  more  vigilant  in  investigating  relationships  between  companies  to 
 ensure  that  we  do  not  encourage  licensees  to  push  the  envelope  of  our  media  ownership  limits.  This  is  particularly  important  as  the  Commission  weakens  its  remaining 
 ownership  restrictions. 
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