In a victory for the public interest, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a decisive blow against would-be media moguls this week. It threw out the FCC’s rules that would have allowed one company to own a newspaper and broadcast stations in the same market. And pediatricians agree with First Lady Michelle Obama. They both say that kids should limit their time in front of TV, computers and other devices.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made it clear to Comcast and NBC that the proposed merger of the two companies should not simply be rubber-stamped. And online newspaper San Francisco Public Press is about to launch its first print edition with the help of more than 50 journalists and other nonprofit groups.

A Comcast-NBC Universal mega-merger would be bad news for consumers. And the FCC has jump-started its 2010 media ownership review process with a series of workshops. Public interest groups weighed in about research methods and focus.

People in prison and their families are paying excessively high telephone bills to keep in touch. And in Chicago, four top TV news stations will share newsgathering resources, but one top station refused to join them.

The FCC came one step closer to increasing the diversity in media ownership by proposing changes that should give the public accurate information on the race, ethnicity and gender of broadcast station owners. And as technology becomes central to media distribution, anyone with a message to share must embrace their inner geek.