Obamaâ€™s FCC Plans Sale of U.S. Media to Foreigners

If you think it's hard to get unbiased news from radio and TV now, just wait until your local broadcast stations and other media properties are owned and operated by the Chinese, Russian or Mexican governments, or the Muslim Brotherhood.

Amazingly, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to make it easier for foreigners to buy and run local radio and TV stations. The federal entity that monitors the media is proposing more foreign ownership of the U.S. media in the name of "diversity."

So, I suppose Congress will once again roll over as broadcast licenses may not be held by aliens.

http://transition.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf

SEC. 310. [47 U.S.C. 310] LIMITATION ON HOLDING AND TRANSFER
OF LICENSES.
(a) The station license required under this Act shall not be granted to or
held by any foreign government or the representative thereof.
(b) No broadcast or common carrier or aeronautical en route or
aeronautical fixed radio station license shall be granted to or held by—
(1) any alien or the representative of any alien;
(2) any corporation organized under the laws of any foreign
government;
(3) any corporation of which more than one-fifth of the capital
stock is owned of record or voted by aliens or their representatives or by a
foreign government or representative thereof or by any corporation
organized under the laws of a foreign country;
(4) any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other
corporation of which more than one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of
record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or by a foreign government
or representative thereof, or by any corporation organized under the laws
of a foreign country, if the Commission finds that the public interest will be
served by the refusal or revocation of such license.
(c) In addition to amateur station licenses which the Commission may issue
to aliens pursuant to this Act, the Commission may issue authorizations, under
Communications Act of 1934
162
such conditions and terms as it may prescribe, to permit an alien licensed by his
government as an amateur radio operator to operate his amateur radio station
licensed by his government in the United States, its possessions, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there is in effect a multilateral or bilateral
agreement, to which the United States and the alien's government are parties, for
such operation on a reciprocal basis by United States amateur radio operators.
Other provisions of this Act and of the Administrative Procedure Act shall not be
applicable to any request or application for or modification, suspension, or
cancellation of any such authorization.
(d) No construction permit or station license, or any rights thereunder, shall
be transferred, assigned, or disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or involuntarily,
directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of any corporation holding such
permit or license, to any person except upon application to the Commission and
upon finding by the Commission that the public interest, convenience, and
necessity will be served thereby. Any such application shall be disposed of as if the
proposed transferee or assignee were making application under section 308 for the
permit or license in question; but in acting thereon the Commission may not
consider whether the public interest, convenience, and necessity might be served
by the transfer, assignment, or disposal of the permit or license to a person other
than the proposed transferee or assignee.
(e)(1) In the case of any broadcast station, and any ownership interest
therein, which is excluded from the regional concentration rules by reason of the
savings provision for existing facilities provided by the First Report and Order
adopted March 9, 1977 (docket No. 20548; 42 Fed. Reg. 16145), the exclusion
shall not terminate solely by reason of changes made in the technical facilities of
the station to improve its service.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘’regional concentration rules’’
means the provisions of sections 73.35, 73.240, and 73.636 of title 47, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect June 1, 1983), which prohibit any party from
directly or indirectly owning, operating, or controlling three broadcast stations in
one or several services where any two of such stations are within 100 miles of the
third (measured city-to-city), and where there is a primary service contour overlap
of any of the stations.
SEC. 311. [47 U.S.C. 311] SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT

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