Portland, Maine, may be the site of an upcoming FCC public hearing on media ownership, according to Rebecca Fisher, an FCC spokesperson.

In June 2006, the FCC announced that it would hold six public hearings at “diverse locations across the nation” in direct response to a Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision (Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC) that largely challenged a 2003 FCC order loosening media ownership rules.

Rules under consideration are limits on local television and radio ownership, the UHF discount rule used in calculating the national television ownership limit, cross-ownership bans for newspaper/broadcast and radio/television, and a dual network ownership ban. Comments on minority ownership are also invited.

The first in this round of six public hearings was held in Los Angeles on Oct. 3. The second and most recent was held in Nashville on Dec. 11, where the first panel (music industry professionals) included notable recording artists such as George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Cowboy Troy and Naomi Judd. A second panel of local broadcast and print media professionals was then followed by a reported 170 audience comments.

Of the four remaining hearings, the FCC has yet to issue official confirmation on their locations and dates.

However, the urgency of this issue cannot be understated, according to FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps.

“To me these questions about our media are as important as any I know,” Copps told the audience at the Nashville hearing. “All the other issues members of this audience care about are funneled and filtered, increasingly, through big media.

Dumbed-down news is not helping our democracy any more than homogenized music and national play-lists are giving us entertainment truly reflective of the creative genius of this diverse nation. We are paying too heavy a price for the lack of diversity, localism, creativity and competition that so much consolidation has visited upon us. There is a bottom line here and it’s this—the people don’t have enough say as to how their airwaves are being used, and it’s time to do something about it.”

In addition to the six public hearings, the FCC announced an extended public comment period on media ownership. Although Thursday, Dec. 21, will mark the close of this formal comment period, the commission will continue to accept comments thereafter. To learn more about public comments to the FCC and how to file one, visit www.fcc.gov/ownership/comments.html.