Cory Booker: “I rise today to introduce the Let Our Communities Access Local TV Act, or the LOCAL TV Act. I am pleased that I've had…”

“I rise today to introduce the Let Our Communities Access Local TV Act, or the LOCAL TV Act. I am pleased that I've had the opportunity to collaborate with my friend and colleague, Senator Fischer, and I know we both look forward to working with our fellow colleagues on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to see that this legislation is enacted. The LOCAL TV Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to study the impact of media market areas and to assess their impact on the ability of individuals to receive relevant, local news and information. The current structure of media markets is one in which market areas can sprawl across State lines, creating situations in which you can live in one State, but be exclusively saddled in the media market of another. My state of New Jersey is particularly affected by this situation because it is one of only two States in the entire Nation that is served exclusively by out-of-state media markets. We are served by New York and Pennsylvania--both great places but not New Jersey. Why does this matter? When someone in Patterson, Freehold, or Cape May, New Jersey turns on their local broadcast station--they are lucky when they find stories about their community's latest news, schools, and our local governments. This kind of New Jersey news, unfortunately, takes a back seat to that of neighboring Philadelphia and New York.…”