The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday that it will again review media ownership regulations of newspapers, radio, and television.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expressed his desire to review the 1975 ban that prevents cross ownership of newspapers, radio and television outlets. Martin, at the FCC's monthly opening meeting: "The commission should take into account the competitive realities of the media marketplace while also ensuring the promotion of the important goals of localism and diversity."

This decision, however, could reignite contentious debate between the FCC, media companies, and consumer groups. A previous effort to relax ownership restrictions in 2003 was put on hold by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, along with fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, critized Martin's decision: "Even under the old rules, consolidation grows, localism suffers and diversity dwindles... If we make the wrong decision, our communities will suffer and our country will suffer."

Copps' concerns were echoed by Gene Kimmelman, a vice president at Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, when he stated "widespread public concern about concentration and bias in the media. We need to remind the commission how important a variety of independent and locally owned sources of news and information are to our democracy."

Marshall Morton, president and chief executive of Virginia-based Media General, which owns over two dozen television stations and several newspapers, countered: "Ten years ago we talked about ourselves as being a newspaper publisher or a TV broadcaster. Today we'd say we're an information provider in markets. . . To be restricted from giving you the information that we've got because the FCC decides it's not a good idea we think is like tying an arm behind our back. So cross-ownership is very important."

The FCC is allowing for 120 days for public comment as well as allocating "$200,000 for studies of issues like how people get news, competition between media types, marketplace changes, local coverage, minority participation in media and production of children's programming." There will, however, be only 6 public hearings instead of the 12 proposed by Copps.

The Commission yesterday also appoved, reports the Boston Globe, a plan to fund phone service subsidies that could lead to higher bills for Internet and wireless phone users - Internet telephone services have been ordered to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service to rural and low-income areas as well as communications services and Internet access for schools, hospitals, and libraries.The agency also increased the amounts wireless telephone services will have to pay into the same fund.

So says Steve Yelvington on the support the FCC expressed yesterday for the unbundling of cable television: This is going to get a lot of knee-jerk support from people who think it's a good thing for consumers. But the truth is that it's a terribly bad idea, one that will narrow consumer choices and ultimately continue the concentration of television power in the hands of a small number of key companies. It's absolutely anticonsumer."

His wrap-up: "Maybe Martin sees this maneuver as a tool for shutting down those naughty shows that scandalize the right-wing base. Maybe it's a foolish attempt to save mass programming from the death by a thousand cuts as the audience follows its interests into niche programming. Ultimately it will fail, because we'll just turn off the cable and go onto the Internet."