FCC chief Kevin Martin jammed his proposal to weaken media newspaper/television cross-ownership rules through a sharply divided FCC today on a 3-2 vote. Longtime consumer champion and dissident FCC Commissioner Michael Copps issued a long and extremely critical statement (excerpt):

Let's get beyond the weeds of corporate jockeying and inking up our rubber stamps for a new round of media consolidation to look for a moment at what we are not doing today. That's the real story, I think--that the important issues of minority and female ownership and broadcast localism and how they are being short-changed by today's rush to judgment.