Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein aren’t buying it. They say that the top 20 markets contain 43% of the US population, exposing that many people to undue concentration right from the get-go. They also believe that the waiver provisions allowing such combinations in smaller markets will be waved through liberally, based on past experience. "When big conglomerates can’t get their way in a general rule, they press for loopholes that swallow the rule, and they would succeed with this approach," they wrote in a joint statement. They also argue that the stations he would allow to go into the hands of a newspaper are precisely the ones a disadvantaged business would be most likely to have a stab at owning. They say Martin wants to "…deliver a generous gift to Big Media before the holidays. For the rest of us: a lump of coal." They also suggested Tribune receive temporary cross-ownership waivers so the deal is not held hostage to a needlessly rapid timetable.
