"Sadly, millions of Americans will never have a seat at this table," Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, told the commission. "Too few own too much, at the expense of too many." He called it "disgraceful" that only 7 percent of broadcast outlets are minority-owned.

"We must listen to the public," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, one of two Democrats at the five-member agency. "It is not just a moral obligation. It is the law." Michael Copps, the other Democratic FCC commissioner, noted that lawmakers in both parties have urged the FCC to issue rules about promoting local programming before tackling ownership.

"There is no question that the consolidation of media ownership has led to the coarsening of the culture," added Dan Isett, director of government affairs at the Parents Television Council.

Marcellus Alexander, executive vice president at the National Association of Broadcasters, was one of the few supporters of loosening the restrictions. He emphasized that television stations produce more regional news than ever before, a point underscored by a video presentation about Los Angeles-based KABC-TV's extensive coverage of San Diego-area fires.

But Jim Goodmon, president of Raleigh, N.C.-based Capitol Broadcasting, implored the agency not to vote on media ownership during the transition to digital signals. "Why would we work on ownership regulation at the end of an era?" he asked, noting that TV stations can expand now by offering multiple digital channels.

"If you permit this consolidation, television stations and newspaper will behave as commercial radio owners behaved when they were largely deregulated," added Bob Edwards, a radio host on XM Satellite who spoke on behalf of the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists.

"The intensity of the public's concerns about how broadcasters serve their community is something the commission should not, and in practice, cannot, ignore," said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public-interest law firm.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, reiterated steps he supports to increase opportunities for minorities and women, including tax credits and leased access of unused television spectrum. He told reporters that he will take congressional concerns into account but also wants to fulfill a 2004 court order requiring the agency to review its media thresholds.

Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, also a Republican, spoke briefly about the contributions of local broadcasters, but the agency's third GOP regulator, Robert McDowell, considered a potential swing vote, did not tip his hand.

The protestor in the French maid outfit, with Code Pink Women for Peace, spoke during an open-mike session dominated by critics of media concentration: "I'm dressed today as a corporate media whore because I believe that our airwaves have been sold to the highest bidder," she said.

A security officer relented in trying to remove her earlier in the day.