Associated Press: Justices uphold FCC’s easing of local media ownership limits

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld federal regulators’ decision to ease ownership limits on local media, rejecting a claim that the change would hurt minority and female ownership.

The court said the Federal Communications Commission acted reasonably in 2017 when it modified rules that predated the internet.

The old rules prohibited a single entity from owning a radio or TV station and a daily newspaper in the same media market. They also limited how many radio and TV stations one company could own in a single market and restricted the number of TV stations a company could operate in one media market. …

Advocacy groups that oppose the growing consolidation of the industry called on the FCC, the Biden administration and Congress to develop new rules to encourage local, diverse ownership.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this decision opens the floodgates to more consolidation for media conglomerates. But that doesn’t mean the FCC has to approve every merger that comes knocking on its door,” said Yosef Getachew, Media & Democracy Program Director for Common Cause.