Washington, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) released the following statement after the Supreme Court announced it would hear FCC, et al. v. Prometheus Radio Project, et al.
“While today’s media landscape has changed since my time as a local broadcast station owner, government rules for the industry have stayed the same. There is no good reason why the local broadcast industry should be subject to ownership rules from the 1970s. This not only puts local broadcasters across the nation at a disadvantage against their competitors, but also hinders the growth of the local broadcast industry at large," said Walden. “It’s past time to level the playing field and ensure our government can catch up with the continued innovation and growth of the 21st century and beyond. The FCC was right to modernize these rules and it is unfortunate that litigation has slowed down attempts to bring the media industry ecosystem in to the 21st century. Regardless of outcome, this will provide the local media industry with certainty on a path forward to ensuring our media policy enables competition and investment in local news."
