The FCC is supposed to review its media ownership rules every four years. Thus 2014 saw the beginning of another review process, a process which it not expected to be completed until 2016. During nearly every review, the commission is pressured to relax media ownership rules, allowing for cross ownership and consolidation. Recently, deregulation advocates have argued the FCC behaves as if the internet does not exist and that diversity of ownership of broadcast media outlets a) is no longer as important as it was before the internet because the public can now access many sources of information and news without relying on traditional media sources, and b) media outlets must be further consolidates to compete with the internet. These and other arguments about new rules for media ownership are summarized in this LA Times article that describes a recent House hearing on the subject. Read this article, and this summary of current media ownership rules, and then state and support your opinion about whether or not it makes sense for the FCC to relax media ownership rules.
