Welcome to StopBigMedia.com
As the Federal Communications Commission takes the first steps toward enacting sweeping changes to the nation’s media ownership rules, a diverse alliance of consumer, civil rights, labor and media reform groups is speaking out against greater media consolidation.
The FCC is expected to start a new rulemaking process this week that could allow a handful of media corporations to swallow up more local television channels, radio stations and newspapers. A draft proposal indentifying which rules are up for revision is expected to be considered at the FCC’s June 21 meeting.
The StopBigMedia.com campaign is mobilizing broad public opposition to any FCC ruling that would hand over more control of local media to the nation’s largest media corporations. Working together with millions of Americans, we will make the public voice heard before the FCC allows big media to become even bigger.
Take a look around — and get ready.
Good luck on this important mission!! Personally, I don’t know how the heck you will pull it off, but I pray that you do!
The media in America needs an enema!!!!!
June 20th, 2006 at 3:29 pmIn monopoly cases, the Supreme Court has described anti-trust laws as the Magna Carta of free enterprise, as essential to economic freedom and consumer sovereignty as the Bill of Rights is to personal empowerment. Media consolidation laws should be treated no differently.
A free and open media system is one of the pillars of democracy, protecting the first amendment rights of all citizens, not just the wealthy and powerful. Free and open media allows for the exchange of ideas and information, ensures true representation of the electorate, exposes government and corporate corruption, and serves as part of the system of checks and balances that ensure our civil rights.
Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers believed that equal opportunity could only be judged by equal and representative outcomes. Recent events, like news coverage proceeding the occupation of Iraq in 2003, have shown us how dangerously close our media system has come to representing a single point of view. The real myth of deregulation movements (like the laws being passed now by Congress) is that it expands opportunities, and only in reading the fine print do we realize that opportunities have only been expanded for the priveleged. Without equal outcome of expression, we do not have truly equal opportunity, and without equal opportunity we do not have democracy.
Any further consolidation would be a threat to democracy and free speech everywhere. I urge all who read this to support social justice and join the coalition to stop big media. I have linked to this site on my blog, and anyone with a blog or a website who believes in the freedom of expression should do the same! We don’t have to take this anymore!
June 20th, 2006 at 7:05 pmI think it is time (again) for me to come out with my mantra. Citizens need to read about fascism and democracy. This nasty business of big media makes it easier for the government we once loved (and now fear) to control what information we receive by radio and TV. This is not the first fascist thinking I have seen in the past 6 years, but it is very dangerous.
To maintain a democracy we need a strong middle class and access to information. The information must be accurate, unbiased, and easy to obtain. Now, what is happening to our middle class?
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:46 pmRise up America! Enough of this fascism and stealing of power from the People. It’s time to stand up against these dark ones. For Love….for your Children….
June 28th, 2006 at 12:22 amWe here in San Antonio Texas voraciously read about the horrors of Media Consolidation. We have already seen the affects here in Texas. It affects everything we read in the local newspaper (there is only 1 major paper here, as in other cities), it affects what music we hear and don’t hear on the radio (we have tons of local talent, that can only be heard live, not on the radio), and it affects what we watch.
The local public access channel in San Antonio was off the air for over 6 months due to the state legislature in Texas passing a bill that gave even
more power to the telecom/cable companies, with disastrous results so far. I hope San Antonio can be seen as an example of what to expect from bigger telecom/cable companies, and how quickly local voices can be silenced. People need to wake up and smell the coffee, for there for the grace of God go I. For more details see
http://www.411productions.blogspot.com
July 20th, 2006 at 7:27 pmhi,your blog is google ! I like it very much! I’m agreeable to your point of view! I hope to make feiends with you ! please remember me .my name is 机票 of chinese. I come from hongkong.
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:59 pmIf you haven’t discovered it already, check out theyrule.com. It’s not just media, it’s everything. Coke is Pepsi.
August 4th, 2006 at 10:43 pmAs an avid TV watcher and Internet Junkie, and, advocate for change - when change is necessary; I first react with… We have too much BIG corporate power in this country, and we definitely need to maintain some assemblance of power for the people! In my mind, the media is the first place to start. I abhor the whole concept of any multi-corporate power in any arena - most especially in the media. Media of every sort, affects us all. If huge congomerates are allowed to own a majority of any media, in any arena, then it greatly limits the public scrutiny, and controls of who, how, where, when, what, and why we receive information. Orwellian, is too kind a term to label it…
August 5th, 2006 at 1:20 amFurther, without true competition there is limited freedom of choice … and, we all want our freedom to choose.