In a major victory for media conglomerates, the Federal Communications Commissions has approved a measure undoing a key barrier to media consolidation. On Tuesday, the FCC voted three to two to ease the rules for companies seeking to own both a newspaper and television or radio station in the same city. FCC Chair Kevin Martin pushed the vote despite widespread opposition from lawmakers and the general public. The vote will have repercussions here in New York, where News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch would be able to own a television station along with the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. Dissenting Commissioner Michael Copps called the vote a gift to corporations.

Michael Copps: “In the final analysis, the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what’s happening in our communities and keeping an eye on local government. Despite all the talk you may hear today about the threat to newspapers from the internet and new technologies, today’s order actually deals with something quite old-fashioned. Powerful companies are using political muscle to sneak through rule changes that let them profit at the expense of the public interest. They are seeking to improve their economic prospects by capturing a larger percentage of the news business in communities across the United States.”

The new FCC rules are likely to undergo judicial review. They could also be overturned by a congressional vote.