Seattle Times, May 15, 2008
By Ryan Blethen

The U.S. Senate approved a "resolution of disapproval" to block new media cross-ownership rules adopted by the FCC in December. Will be back later tonight or tomorrow with more details about the vote and what might happen with a companion resolution in the House.

UPDATE: The resolution passed with a nearly unanimous voice vote. Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a group that has worked on rolling back media consolidation and opposed the FCC's revised cross-ownership rule, said:

"Today's historic Senate vote is a resounding victory for the vast majority of Americans who oppose media consolidation. We applaud the bipartisan leadership of Senators Dorgan and Snowe for acting in the public interest. But to stop Big Media from polluting our local airwaves with more junk journalism and propaganda, we need the House to move this legislation forward quickly.

"At this watershed moment, public outrage against Big Media has reached a breaking point. The Bush administration's threats to undercut this bipartisan effort in Congress show how out of touch this president is with the will of the American people. But we're not going to stand idly by and let the White House green light Big Media's expansion. The great pendulum of political change is swinging away from corrosive consolidation and toward better media."

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