The Rev. Al Sharpton Goes to Washington

Chris Glorioso PIX News At Ten

Al Sharpton's cartoon crusade is now in stage 2 and this act may prove to be much more interesting than the tussle over a bloody chimp drawing. Sharpton wants the Federal Communications Commission to review (interpretation: revoke) the waivers that allow News Corporation to own a major newspaper and two local television stations in New York City. Currently, Rupert Murdoch runs both Channel 5 (WNYW) and Channel 9 (WWOR), while publishing the New York Post. Couple those outlets with the Wall Street Journal and Fox News Channel and you've got a lot of press power in the hands of one Australian mogul.

Traditionally regulators have looked down on such ownership consolidation. They've rightly been concerned that if one company owns too many media outlets, that company will be able to silence alternate perspectives. Diversity in the media is a noble goal, and that's why tomorrow's meeting is about much more than a racist cartoon.

Tomorrow's meeting is the first time President Obama's nominee for FCC Chairman will be in the national spotlight. His name is Julius Genachowski. He was one of Obama's Harvard classmates and Obama's campaign tech counselor. Genachowski has been hailed by media reform groups as a defender of diversity in broadcasting and the press. Indeed, he helped write Obama's "Technology and Innovation Plan" which isn't subtle when it comes to media cross-ownership. Here's an excerpt:

"Barack Obama believes that the nation's rules ensuring diversity of media ownership are critical to the public interest ... Unfortunately, over the past several years, the Federal Communications Commission has promoted the concept of consolidation over diversity."

Genachowski is right about the FCC's recent attitude change. In 2007, regulators voted to liberalize cross-ownership rules. In a flash it became a lot easier for a media titan like Murdoch to own multiple outlets in the same city. Is the Obama administration capitalizing on this "race war" between Sharpton and the Post to road test a radical change in policy? If so, analysts say it will be tricky.

That's because the courts have generally demanded restrictions on media ownership be grounded in threats to a competitive marketplace of ideas. It will be difficult for Al Sharpton, or anyone else, to argue New York City is suffering from a lack of ideological diversity because Rupert Murdoch owns 3 outlets. The New York Post is not the only game in town. It routinely loses the circulation battle to the New York Daily News. As for Channel 5 and Channel 9. ... both those stations face stiff competition from my personal favorite station WPIX (ok that's a shameless plug ... So call the FCC!). There's also a second issue . .. . the First Amendment.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President of the Media Access Project is no supporter of media consolidation. He fights in court to tear down the waivers that allow cross-ownership rules. Nonetheless, he admits a federal judge cannot consider even the most vile, racist cartoon when deciding on who can own what television station or newspaper.

"The FCC looks at competitive considerations in deciding whether or not to grant these waivers," says Schwartzman. "It would be inappropriate to look at the content that is broadcast or published in that connection because of the First Amendment. "

All that said, keep an eye on Sharpton's trip to the FCC headquarters. It says something that regulators are willing to sit down and talk about Rupert Murdoch's tangled web of media properties. This may be just the spark Julius Genachowski has been waiting for. Most observers think he's been itching to reverse the de-regulatory stance his predecessor took. In 4 years, we might look back and have a poorly drawn chimpanzee to thank ... for a little more diversity in our newsprint and on our airwaves.