The FCC shouldn’t let Gannett’s reliance on previous...

The FCC shouldn’t let Gannett’s reliance on previous Media Bureau acceptance of sharing agreements keep it from finding that the Gannett/Belo deal violates media ownership rules, said Free Press, Common Cause, the United Church of Christ Communications Office and other public interest groups in a reply to Gannett’s opposition to their application for review (http://bit.ly/1bpzDMN). “The full Commission has only heard one case regarding modern sharing agreements,” said the public interest filing. “The Opposing Parties’ reliance interests are extremely limited because staff decisions are not binding precedent on the Commission when the Commission has not reviewed the staff ruling.” The public interest groups also challenged Gannett’s arguments that the FCC must wait for a rulemaking proceeding to rule on the larger issue of sharing agreements. The commission can decide the status of shared service agreements (SSAs) and joint sales agreements (JSAs) in its adjudication of the Gannett/Belo deal, said the filing. “It is black letter law that the Commission may establish policy -- and has done so -- through adjudication,” said the groups. FCC officials have told us Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office is planning to circulate proposed rules for making JSAs attributable (CD Jan 30 p1). Public interest concerns also outweigh Gannett’s and Belo’s past reliance on sharing agreements, the groups said. “Serious public interest concerns regarding diversity accompany the Opposing Parties’ SSAs, and the importance of the public interest in the Commission’s regulation of media ownership indicates that these strong concerns outweigh the Opposing Parties’ weak reliance interests."