Media outlets in America are already increasingly owned by corporate giants, and easing the rules on ownership is a bad idea that could further snuff out local control and originality in TV and radio.

If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) relaxes rules restricting how many media outlets a company can own, the Consumer’s Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, predicts that mergers would be allowed in 140 concentrated local markets. &uot;In as many as 100 of these local markets, representing nearly half the national population, there is one dominant newspaper. Allowing a merger between a dominant newspaper and a large TV station would create a local news giant that threatens alternative news viewpoints. In these markets, one firm would have half of the total audience and employ half the total news employees,&uot; according to the CU Web site.

The rules already in place have not prevented conglomerates like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp or AOL/Time Warner from buying up huge portions of the nation’s media. If companies are allowed to increase their share of the control of local news markets, the impetus for more original, thoughtful and locally oriented content is lessened because competition becomes less of a factor.

Our communities need a reasonable number of choices in media, particularly for news. Any news person can tell you that competition makes news coverage better, and a strong news media is important for the continued health of our society.

Instead of siding with huge media companies, the FCC should vote to defend diversity, to whatever extent it still exists, in media

ownership.