This Is What The Fcc Had In Mind

When W. Don Cornwell left Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1988 to build his own media empire from the ground up, he had more than a few things going for him. Cornwell boasted 17 years of investment banking experience and a modest nest egg to put up as capital. Wealthy friends--including attorney Vernon Jordan and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey--invested, too.

That Cornwell is African American would have posed a major hurdle to entrepreneurship in many other industries. But in broadcasting, his race qualified him for a Federal Communications Commission tax break meant to encourage minority ownership of broadcast properties. That helped him build a vigorous public company called Granite Broadcasting Corp., which now owns seven TV stations in such midsize markets as Austin, Tex., and San Jose, Calif.