Who owns your media?
Is it someone from your community?
Is it someone who shares your concerns?
Probably not.
The airwaves that carry TV and radio signals belong to the public. And our leaders in Washington are supposed to ensure a diversity of voices on the air. This ownership disparity is a national disgrace.
We need diverse, independent media owners who have a strong connection to their audience and community.
Big Media Hurts Women and
Communities of Color.
Media consolidation means that a small handful of giant conglomerates control most of what we watch, hear and read everyday.
When media giants are allowed to buy up thousands of radio
and television stations across the country, the few female
and minority owned stations that exist are often pushed out of
the market. And because people of color and women are
more likely to be single-station owners, they are especially
vulnerable to the effects of consolidation.
Support Diverse Ownership.
Stopping media consolidation is the most important way to promote media ownership by women and people of color. Other policies aimed at promoting female and minority ownership won't work if runaway media consolidation continues.
The FCC, the agency tasked with protecting the public interest in broadcasting, has abandoned its mandate to ensure diversity in the U.S. media system. The FCC is trying to push through rule changes that would benefit Big Media at the expense of everyone else.
READ MORE ON MEDIA DIVERSITY
Out of the Picture 2007: Female and Minority Ownership in Broadcast Television
Out of the Picture 2007 found that women and people of color have been shut out from owning television stations, the nation's most influential form of media.
Off the Dial: Female and Minority Ownership in Broadcast Radio
The results of this study reveal a dismally low level of minority and female ownership of radio stations in America that has left two-thirds of the U.S. population with few stations representing their communities or serving their needs.
Letter to FCC Chairman Martin
from UNITY: Journalists of Color
A coalition representing more than 10,000 journalists of color calls on the FCC to address media diversity and minority ownership.
Also be sure to check out UNITY's response to the FCC's December 18th vote allowing further media consolidation.
National Association of Black Journalists Response to FCC Vote
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) calls on the U.S. Congress to reverse the FCC decision to allow corporate ownership of both print and broadcast media in the same city.
Letter to FCC Chairman Martin
from civil rights leaders
Twenty-one national civil rights groups call on the FCC to immediately address the lack of minority broadcast ownership in the United States.
Letter to FCC Chairman Martin
from the StopBigMedia.com coalition
The StopBigMedia.com coalition urges the FCC to stop further concentration of media ownership until it has taken the necessary steps to promote minority and female ownership of broadcast stations.
Interactive Media Ownership Charts
Explore who the biggest media companies are and what they own.
The marriage of Comcast and NBC is bad news for consumers. But Washington and Wall Street have already bought into the idea that it's a done deal. That's why Americans need to speak out now and stop the mega-merger!
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