IN FCC CROSS-OWNERSHIP REPLY COMMENTS, NAA REAFFIRMS EVIDENCE FOR REPEAL OF BAN, SAYS OPPOSITION FAILS TO MAKE ITS CASE

Vienna, Va. – The overwhelming amount of empirical evidence presented in support of repealing the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban significantly outweighs the unsubstantiated comments of those who seek to retain it, the Newspaper Association of America asserted in its reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiry on the prohibition.

"In our initial comments to the FCC, NAA provided a detailed analysis of current media-market conditions and offered numerous examples of how existing newspaper-broadcast combinations benefit the public interest," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "In contrast, those in favor of retaining the ban seemed to base their arguments on unproven, ’70s-vintage assumptions and theories wholly unrelated to the FCC’s proceeding.

"The newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban is nothing more than a relic of the distant past, particularly in light of the multitude of media voices available to the public today. The ban has no current basis in law and, since it discriminates against local newspaper publishers, it is contrary to the First Amendment," Sturm added. "Based on the strong record presented by NAA and others, we believe the commission should move quickly to repeal the ban."

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Most NAA members are daily newspapers, accounting for 87 percent of the U.S. daily circulation. Headquartered in Tysons Corner (Vienna, Va.), the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry may also be found at the Association’s World Wide Web site on the Internet (http://www.naa.org/).

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