Asheville Residents to Give FCC an Earful

Posted June 27th, 2006 by Tim Karr

Asheville residents will get a say in the debate over media consolidation on June 28 during a “Town Meeting on the Future of the Media” featuring Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps.

The meeting is separate from six public hearings the FCC has said it plans to hold. However, comments at the Asheville hearing will be entered into the public record and given to the FCC and North Carolina officials.The event is being organized by Free Press in partnership with local groups in the Asheville community.

Wally Bowen, founder of Mountain Area Information Network and an Asheville media advocate, told the Asheville Citizen-Times that he expects a large crowd to attend and voice their opinions on media concentration. “We’re expecting possibly 500 people. The commissioners have said they will stay as long as people want to speak.” (Also read Commissioner Copps’ op-ed in the Citizen-Times)

Bowen’s group is a part of the StopBigMedia.com coalition that has formed to fight runaway media consolidation and urge the FCC to put the public interest before the self-interest of large media corporations.

Although he has called for a process of public review, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin will be absent from this hearing in his home state. Martin has supported eliminating the three-decade-old flat ban on cross-ownership. Earlier this year he called on newspaper publishers to help justify this repeal. Martin has been reluctant to reveal the extent to which he plans to re-write ownership rules.

Click here to learn more about the Asheville hearing.

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