Wednesday Morning Linkage

Media ownership hearings in Los Angeles
EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. – The concentration of media ownership by a few large corporations came under attack Tuesday as the Federal Communications Commission opened a series of hearings on the issue.

The End of the World As We Know It If Media Consolidation Continues?
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is bringing his idea of loosening media restrictions to the country and he’s getting a mouthful. R.E.M.’s Mike Mills was one of several entertainment-industry heavyweights who spoke against the plan at yesterday’s field hearing, the first of six, in Los Angeles.

Bush’s NLRB, Supreme Court Declare War On Unions
While all of Washington DC and much of the political world are focused exclusively on a recent intelligence report showing that the war in Iraq is spreading terrorism, Bob Woodward book detailing how we’re plagued by an administration of liars surrounding by yes-men, and finally predator-gate which threatens to drive the final nail in the Republicans’ ’06 coffin, there have been two major legal developments that could sharply affect the fate of organized labor in this country.

Tribune restructuring partnerships with Chandlers
CHICAGO - Tribune Co. announced Thursday night that it is restructuring two complex partnerships with the Chandler family, its largest shareholder, that needed to be revised for the struggling media company to pursue new initiatives.

Newspaper Web site readership grows 31 pct
According to a Newspaper Association of America study, newspaper web site traffic rose from 42.2 million unique visitors a month for the first half of 2005 to 55.5 million unique visitors for the first half of this year, up almost a third.

Newspaper group: Our audience is expanding
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - Even as print newspapers face circulation declines, their total audience grew significantly in the first half of this year thanks to their online editions, according to a report released by an industry trade group Wednesday.

Satellite radio stocks decline as XM director exits
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The satellite radio stocks were down Wednesday after XM said one of its directors has resigned -- the second board member to step down from the company this year.