Media face grilling from Copps: commissioner wants his own ownership field hearings. (Top of the Week).(Michael Copps)

Frustrated that media consolidation isn't getting more attention outside of Washington, Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps plans to take the unusual, perhaps unprecedented step of holding his own field hearings to examine the impact of proposed ownership deregulation.

"We need much wider participation," Copps said. "This is not an inside-the-Beltway issue," he told reporters last week.

Copps has repeatedly called on the FCC to hold ownership hearings, but Chairman Michael Powell is said to be adamantly opposed in order to focus on economic justification needed to satisfy judicial concerns about ownership restrictions. Powell-appointed Media Bureau …