Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, along with Belo Corp. and Morris Communications Co. have asked the Supreme Court to restore the government’s sweeping new media ownership rules, which had been thrown out by a lower court.
The big media companies contend the Federal Communications Commission rules easing ownership restrictions are necessary because the old regulations hamper companies’ ability to grow and compete in a market that now includes cable television, satellite broadcasting and the Internet.
Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, and the parent companies of CBS, Fox and NBC late Friday filed their appeal of the rules to the Supreme Court. A trade group, the Newspaper Association of America, filed an appeal Monday.
Last June the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected the rules change.
Supporters of the new rules acknowledge they were dealt a setback last week after the Justice Department, in consultation with the FCC, decided not to file its own appeal.
