Eight-five percent of Americans get their news from television. For that reason alone, it is totally unacceptable that a few corporations will be able to totally control television production as well as broadcasting and delivery. Yet that is likely to happen as a consequence of the court's decision. That two-part decision for the first time allows cable television companies to own local TV stations, while at the same time it undermines the rule limiting corporate control of television stations.

For sixty years the National Television Station Ownership Rule has protected Americans from total corporate domination of American broadcasting. The rule limits the number of broadcast television stations that can be owned by a single corporation. The current cap limits any one company to owning stations that provide television broadcasts to no more than 35 percent of the nation's households. Now that rule is in danger of evaporating.

The Ownership Rule was originally passed to "prevent any undue concentration of economic power" over the television media. Today, however, more than at any time in our past, a small number of corporate conglomerates control every aspect of the media, from cable providers to book publishing, from radio to magazine publication, from movie production to television networks, from internet access to newspaper publication.

The court case which has undermined the Ownership Rule was brought by four corporations which, not content with owning many of the major networks and cable companies, also want to control the local dissemination of their programming to viewers across the country: AOL Time Warner, Viacom, the News Corporation and NBC.

A healthy democracy requires a diversity of viewpoints. If just a few corporations can control both production and distribution of the news across America, democracy itself is in danger.

The court decision gives us even more reason to worry.. It overturns the long-established ruling that prevents any company from owning both a cable television system and a broadcast television station in the same city. Now, suddenly, a cable provider in a local market can own a television station in that market. For example, Comcast's pending acquisition of AT&T's cable subsidiary will give it a presence in 17 of the top 20 markets. If Comcast and the other huge cable companies - AOL Time Warner, Charter Communications and Cox Communications - are allowed to own television stations in local markets, both competition in the television marketplace, and the availability diversity of viewpoints in broadcasting, will be greatly restricted.

This is not the time for massive deregulation, as the Enron case has made abundantly clear. Government exists to protect the rights of its citizens, not to enable corporations to do whatever they wish in their pursuit of profits. Our government - the courts, the Federal Communications Commission, the Congress - should be encouraging democracy, not limiting it. If the courts will not protect the people, Congress must.

In the wake of the decision by the Court of Appeals, the danger to the free flow of news and information, on which democracy rests, is very great. We need legislation to halt the growing consolidation of corporate power over the broadcast media. It is my expectation that this legislation will be introduced shortly. It is my hope it will meet with strong and vociferous public support.

Bernard Sanders, Vermont's Representative in the U.S. Congress, is the longest-serving Independent member of the House in the nation's history. His website at http://bernie.house.gov/ is a rich source for news and views.

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