Prometheus Radio Project V. FCC
In 2003 the Federal Communications Commission, under Chairman Michael Powell, sought to significantly relax media outlet ownership regulations. In Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC, a number of broadcasters and citizens groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, the National Council of Churches of Christ, and Media Alliance, sued to prevent the FCC from following through on the decision. Prometheus was represented by Andrew Jay Schwartzman and Cheryl Leanza of the Media Access Project. On September 3, 2003, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay which prevented the new rules from being enforced pending the outcome of the litigation. In 2004, the majority ruled 2-1 in favor of Prometheus and mandated the FCC re-examine its media ownership rules. They ruled that a "diversity index" used by the FCC to weigh cross-ownership (of radio, television and newspapers) employed several "irrational assumptions and inconsistencies." Dissent by Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica noted that the majority were simply employing their own assumptions.
The Supreme Court later turned down an appeal, so the decision stands. The FCC was ordered to reconfigure how it justifies raising ownership limits.
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