WASHINGTON – The publisher of The Seattle Times and three Maine newspapers warned Tuesday that a federal proposal to relax media ownership rules could lead to a handful of companies controlling what people see, hear and read.

Frank Blethen, whose family has run the Times for more than a century, said a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to allow large companies to own more newspapers and TV stations in the same market could have dire consequences.

“I don’t want to be overly dramatic,” he told a Senate panel, “but I think we would see the beginning of the end of our democracy.”

Media consolidation means less local autonomy, fewer voices, less access for the public and higher advertising and subscription rates, Blethen said.

“Media concentration and Wall Street ownership have turned the watchdog into a lapdog,” he told the Senate Commerce Committee. “America needs your leadership to take freedom of the press off the endangered species list.”

Blethen was one of four media executives to testify Tuesday before the Commerce panel, which held a hearing in advance of an expected June 2 vote by the FCC on new media ownership rules.

A plan by the commission’s staff has not been released to the public, but two government officials who saw it described the contents to The Associated Press.

One proposal would relax so-called “cross-ownership” rules, which prevent a company from owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same city. Cross-ownership would be allowed in large and medium markets, but would face restrictions or bans in small markets.

The Newspaper Association of America and media companies such as Tribune Co. and Gannett Inc. have sought the repeal of the cross-ownership rule, saying it limits combinations that can improve the quality and quantity of news and local information.

But Blethen, whose company publishes the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, said the rule guards against the threat of media domination by a handful of companies.