Submitted by Laura Miller on
"The nation's top broadcasters have met behind
closed doors with Federal Communications Commission officials more than
70 times to discuss a sweeping set of proposals to relax media ownership
rules," the Center for Public Integrity writes. "The private sessions
included dozens of meetings between broadcasters and the agency's five
commissioners and their top advisors. A June 2 vote is scheduled on the
controversial proposals, which critics fear will touch off a major new
round of media consolidation. In contrast, FCC officials held five
private sessions with Consumers Union and the Media Access Project, the
two major consumer groups working on the issue, since the proposals
first surfaced eight months ago."