Free Press & NAACP vs. Media General

Broadcasting & Cable reports that, as expected, and as alluded to in a Dec. 23 entry in my blog, forces are gathering to derail the trend toward corporate cross-ownership of TV and press in a single market. Specifically, Free Press and the NAACP have "petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny Media General Inc.’s request for permission to keep both WMBB-TV Panama City, Fla., and the Jackson County Floridan, one of the market’s daily newspapers." The petitioners note no good reason for renewing Media General's waiver and also point out that "a side benefit of an FCC order to divest one of the Panama City outlets would be creating an opportunity for a minority owner to acquire the property."