Archive for October, 2006
Monday, October 30th, 2006 by Jen Howard
A crowd of 350 packed into the Public Hearing on the Future of Media last Friday, voicing concerns about greater media consolidation to FCC Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.
“This is the most important meeting taking place here or anywhere else in the great State of California today,” Commissioner Copps told the audience at the first public hearing on media ownership in the Bay Area. “That’s because the FCC is in the midst of a hugely significant proceeding that will decide what the future of our media—our TV, radio, newspapers, cable and even the Internet—is going to look like for many, many years to come.”
The community-organized hearing was sponsored by the NAACP, Media Alliance, Youth Media Council and Free Press.
“California in particular is and will be adversely affected by the gobbling up of smaller media outlets by larger conglomerates,” Alice Huffman, president of the NAACP California State Conference said in opening the hearing. “And who is affected: small communities, rural communities, and minority populations. As broadcasters become fewer in number, the arena for debate and discussion becomes smaller and smaller.”
Director of the Youth Media Council, Malkia Cyril, spoke about the impact of media consolidation on communities of color, “Sure, people of color are in the news, but as crime suspects. This is about being able to have more local control over the media outlets.”
Sydney Levy, program director of Media Alliance spoke about recent newsroom cutbacks in California. “NBC’s Telemundo is closing its doors in the Bay Area. Dean Singleton is reducing the staff at the San Jose Mercury News. Clear Channel spews hate into our communities. The question is: are we going to reward these companies by allowing them to own more media outlets and increase their monopolies?”
Click here for more information on the Oakland hearing.
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Thursday, October 26th, 2006 by Jen Howard
FCC Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps will be in Oakland tomorrow to listen to local concerns about media consolidation – the only forum on media ownership in Northern California.
With hundreds of Bay Area journalists being laid off and local TV news coverage being scaled back, the Bay Area media market is already feeling the effects of consolidation. A new report released by the Media and Democracy Coalition shows that these new rules would further limit the already small number of independent and diverse voices.
The public hearing will feature panel discussions on how media concentration affects local news and information. Panel participants include Al Hammond, director, Broadband Institute of California, Santa Clara University School of Law; John McManus, director, Grade the News; Karen Slade, general manager, KJLH-FM; Micheline Wilcoxen, executive director, Community Technology Organizing Consortium of Southern California; Paul Porter, co-founder, Industry Ears; and Tram Nguyen, executive editor, ColorLines. Tanya Hart, host of Hollywood Live, will moderate the discussion.
Friday’s community-organized hearing in Oakland is being sponsored by the NAACP, Media Alliance, Youth Media Council and Free Press.
Click here for more information on the Oakland hearing.
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Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 by Jen Howard
Last week, Media Tank, Prometheus Radio Project and PennPIRG, held a press conference and stood with Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown and Bob Christian of the Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association to tell the FCC to support local, diverse media.
The press conference was part of the nationwide release of a Media and Democracy Coalition study on the effects of media consolidation in a dozen states across the country. Across the board, the report found that more mergers will reduce already insufficient local news coverage and eliminate diverse voices and viewpoints.
Following the press conference, the Philadelphia City Council unanimously approved a resolution urging the FCC put a stop on further media consolidation. The resolution also asked the FCC to hold official public hearings on the proposed rule changes in Philadelphia, and urged Congress to step-in on behalf of local communities if the FCC votes in favor of Big Media.
Click here to read the Media and Democracy report.
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Friday, October 20th, 2006 by Jen Howard
A crowd of more than 400 people packed into the Town Meeting on Media Diversity last night in New York City, voicing concerns about greater media consolidation to Federal Communications Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.
The town meeting lasted hours as dozens — including M1 from hip-hop group Dead Prez and Afrika Bambaataa — lined up to testify about the increasing invisibility of people of color in mainstream media.
The NYC community-organized event was presented by the National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Latino Media Council, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, National Institute for Latino Policy, R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop and Free Press.
Among the panelists that testified before the commissioners were Betty Ellen Berlamino, vice president/general manager, WPIX-TV; Arlene Davila, professor, New York University; Juan Gonzalez, columnist, Daily News; Mona Mangan , executive director, Writer’s Guild of America East; and Anthony Riddle, executive director, Alliance for Community Media.
Click here for more pictures from the event
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Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 by Jen Howard
On Thursday, Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps will attend a town hall meeting in New York City to discuss diversity in the broadcast industry.
>>Click here for more info on the NYC town hall meeting
The FCC commissioners will hear from the public and a panel of experts about how television and radio stations serve the needs of people of color. The hearing will also focus on the impact of media consolidation on the communities of color.
There should be a lot to discuss, given the appalling lack of diversity in media ownership.
A study by Free Press has shown how growing media concentration shuts out communities of color. Last month, a number of national and local civil rights leaders spoke out against any rules that would allow further consolidation.
Among the panelists scheduled to testify before the commissioners on Thursday are Betty Ellen Berlamino, vice president/general manager, WPIX-TV; Arlene Davila, professor, New York University; Juan Gonzalez, columnist, Daily News; Mona Mangan , executive director, Writer’s Guild of America East; Mark W. Mason, program director, 1010 WINS-AM; and Anthony Riddle, executive director, Alliance for Community Media.
If you are in New York City, please come out and testify.
If you can’t make the event, tell the FCC to defend media diversity.
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Friday, October 13th, 2006 by Tim Karr
“Now is the time for those who care about democracy and a free press to be loud,” writes Ryan Blethen of the Seattle Times.
Blethen and his family-owned newspaper have been among the very few voices in mainstream media to pay attention to the simmering issue of media ownership. In an editorial for today’s Times, he writes that, with a few exceptions, big national papers and regional papers are not covering this issue or the FCC’s actions to unleash more media consolidation in local communities.
While mainstream press has developed a blind spot on this issue, Blethen believes that a “cyber-response” of bloggers, YouTubers, and online organizers can fill the void.
“Write your congressmen and senators. Go to the FCC hearings. And please, get on your local newspaper editor and radio and television producers to cover what the FCC is doing, he writes. “It should be a no-brainer.”
Want to get involved? Here is a good place to start.
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Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 by Jen Howard
By Rafael Olmeda
President of National Association Hispanic Journalists
It didn’t seem like an unreasonable request. NAHJ asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) earlier this year to conduct an analysis of the state of minority broadcast ownership in the United States. Such a study had not been conducted since the Clinton Administration.
Today, with the Federal Communications Commission once again seeking to revisit rules on broadcast ownership, NAHJ felt a look at minority ownership was warranted.
So we asked for it. And the NTIA said no.
That was in the spring. Now, months later, we can begin to see reasons for the reluctance.
A national, non-profit and non-partisan media policy organization called Free Press took it upon itself to review the ownership records of the nation’s 1,350 broadcast television stations. What the researchers found was disappointing but not terribly surprising: People of color comprise a third of the nation’s population, but only 3.26 percent of broadcast television station owners. Hispanics are 14 percent of the population, yet only 1.1 percent of station owners.
Another finding is of vital importance to NAHJ: The more concentrated a media market, the less likely it is to have a minority owner. In other words, the more we see media consolidation taking root in a community, the less likely we are to see a minority-owned television station in that community.
For over a year, NAHJ has expressed its disapproval of increased media concentration, primarily on the grounds that its effect on minority ownership has not been addressed. Now the evidence is beginning to show what we’d already suspected. Increased consolidation means less minority ownership.
There’s more. Two apparently suppressed FCC studies reveal that local ownership of broadcast stations means more local news content. And the Free Press study showed that minority owners are more likely to be local owners.
In response to NAHJ’s rejected request to the NTIA, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has called on the U.S. Senate to hold up the nomination of the new NTIA assistant secretary until the agency agrees to conduct another minority ownership study. As journalists, we did not request this action. We do agree, wholeheartedly, that the agency must do its job when it comes to this important issue.
Because we care about minority ownership, because we care about local news coverage and because we care about the overall quality of journalism in America, NAHJ continues its opposition to further media consolidation. Our board recently affirmed and strengthened its statement concerning media concentration, and NAHJ Vice President Cindy Rodriguez joined me, our deputy director Joseph Torres, and two representatives of Free Press to discuss the issue in Washington, D.C. with aides of eight members of Congress.
NAHJ is co-sponsoring a public hearing on media consolidation in New York City on October 19. I urge every NAHJ member to carefully review the available information on this issue and understand why we continue to feel the need to take this stand.
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Monday, October 9th, 2006 by Tim Karr
Last week’s FCC hearing in Los Angeles was an extraordinary moment in U.S. media history. People came out in overwhelming numbers to tell the Federal Communications Commission that Americans want to turn back the tide of media consolidation.
Nearly 1,000 people packed auditoriums in downtown L.A. and El Segundo; and all but one of the more than 75 people who came forward testified against further media consolidation. Over eight hours of testimony, artists, writers, producers, directors, actors, small business owners and local citizens told all five commissioners about the devastating impact of media consolidation.
>> Listen to some of the testimony
>> Read press coverage about the L.A. hearing
The question now is whether FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will actually listen to the public outcry and stop big media.
All around him, evidence is mounting that shows the serious problems caused by media consolidation. Free Press recently released a groundbreaking study showing the shockingly low number of TV stations owned by women and people of color. Upon reading the report, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps called the FCC’s failure to promote diversity in our media a “national disgrace.”
This followed news that the FCC had suppressed two studies that revealed the negative impact of media consolidation — including one that showed media concentration was disastrous for local news coverage.
Chairman Martin has pledged to hold five more public hearings before the FCC votes on any media ownership rules changes. If Martin holds to this promise and hears out the public, he will learn that a vast majority of Americans do not want concentrated media. They want local owners, local coverage, and media that represent our diverse communities.
The StopBigMedia.com Coalition is working to make certain these hearings are publicized and packed to the rafters. After five more hearings like the one in Los Angeles, it would be unthinkable for the FCC to turn a deaf ear to the public and allow the Clear Channels, Disneys, Sinclairs and News Corporations to gobble up even more local media.
Media policies made in the public’s name must not be made without the public’s informed consent. That’s why your active involvement is so important. The more all policies reflect public debate, the more likely the media system they shape will serve the people, not just powerful corporations.
Saul Alinsky famously wrote that the only way to beat organized money is with organized people. Well, last week organized people landed a haymaker in Los Angeles. If we keep up the fight, the era of corrupt media policymaking will come to an end.
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Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 by Tim Karr
A standing-room only crowd of more than 500 Angelenos packed into USC’s Davidson Conference Center today to speak out against media consolidation.
The event, the first of two official Federal Communications Commission hearings held in Los Angeles, gave the public and leaders of the city’s creative, labor and civil rights community a chance to tell all five FCC commissioners how proposed changes to media ownership limits would adversely affect their lives and work. (Listen to audio clips from Los Angeles).
“The decisions we will make about our ownership rules will be as difficult as they are critical,” Chairman Kevin Martin said in his opening statement in Los Angeles. “Public input is critical to this process.” Martin pledged to convene at least five more hearings before the agency makes a decision on proposed rule changes.
The event featured panel discussions with elected officials, civil rights and labor leaders, entertainers, policy analysts and public advocates. In speech after speech the presenters and the public urged the FCC commissioners to address an appalling lack of diversity, localism and competition in U.S. Media.
The citizens of Los Angeles sent a clear message about how the public airwaves should be used to serve the public interest, not the financial priorities of a few big media corporations. The FCC must first address the concerns raised by the public in Los Angeles — and in all planned FCC hearings — before rewriting rules that limit media consolidation.
“The media are vital to our democracy,” said Congresswoman Diane Watson. “We want to create a true free market where everyone can have a seat at the table. We need to ensure that the power of American entrepreneurialism is not stifled by just a few media giants.”
“There is a gap between those who own the airwaves — the people the public — and those who control the airwaves and act against the public interest,” said civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, who cited a recent Free Press study that shows an appalling lack of minority- and female-owned television stations across the country. “Media ownership should look like America.”
“Our watch word in this discussion is that the airwaves belong to the American people and we believe it’s time to take them back,” said John Connolly, national president of AFTRA. “That is our desire and our objective and we believe that it is the FCC’s job to serve our interests.”
“When the local programming decisions are prohibited by a remote corporate parent, the public interest is not being served,” said Tim Winter, executive director of the Parents Television Council. “I urge the commissioners to listen carefully but separate the special interests from the public interest and base your decisions on what you hear here today and what best serves the public interest.”
Following the panel, the five commissioners listened to dozens of citizens — some waiting in line for more than two hours to get into the hearing — who expressed concerns about the quality of local news and programming, lack of diversity over the airwaves, and the barriers placed on independent content and local control by Big Media corporations.
“In today’s marketplace, being fired from one station is like being fired from eight stations,” said longtime broadcaster and AFTRA member Bernie Allen. “How do you expect these corporations to give us a diversity of opinion if they can’t even give the marketplace a diversity of programs?”
“What is the point of spending time on a creation that you know will be taken from you?” said Sally Hampton, an independent writer, producer and director. “These conglomerates do not have any incentives to work with true independents.”
“I personally feel that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a disaster. It made my station worth a lot more money. But that’s not the point. It’s the public interest that matters,” said Saul Levine, a local radio station owner. “Radio is the town hall of America. But it’s small, family-owned, independent operators that count. There’s no public benefit to allowing Clear Channel to have more stations. It will drive me out of business.”
Streaming audio and video of both the Los Angeles and El Segundo events is available at www.fcc.gov/realaudio/#oct3
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Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 by Tim Karr
The Federal Communications Commission is in Los Angeles today to test the public waters against its plan to loosen the last remaining curbs to media ownership.
If recent public comments are indication, those waters are still boiling hot since the last time the federal agency tried — but failed — to hand over more control of local airwaves to massive media conglomerates like Tribune Company, News Corp and ABC/Disney.
As FCC chairman Kevin Martin prepares for his first in a promised half dozen public hearings, more than 100,000 Americans have already filed comments opposing the chairman’s plans to unleash a new wave of media consolidation.
But the public outcry in 2006 might not be loud enough to stop the powerful forces of corporate consolidation.
At issue is whether the parent companies of newspapers should be allowed to own TV and radio stations in the same market. If the existing rules are lifted, one company could dominate major media in a single market — owning as many as eight radio stations, three television stations and a major newspaper. A majority of the five commissioners at the FCC have indicated their desire to sweep away the rules that would prevent this, and clear a path for “media company towns” in which local public discourse is dictated by a single national media chain.
When the FCC tried to push through similar rule changes in 2003, millions of people contacted the FCC and Congress to voice their opposition, sparking a congressional rebuke and a Third Circuit Court return of the rules to the FCC. The FCC is now seeking to rewrite the rules. While we have yet to see 2003 levels of public response in 2006, the Los Angeles hearing may ignite a broader outcry.
Martin’s latest attempt to unleash consolidation is driven by the massive lobbying of the nation’s largest media companies. Their motive is to fatten their wallets and not serve the public interest. Regrettably, this powerful media lobby has the ear of many at the FCC.
This is why speaking out in Los Angeles is so important. If you live within driving distance of one or both of the scheduled hearings today, do make the effort to get to the events. The StopBigMedia.com coalition has posted a number of resources (including fliers, posters, speakers’ guides and parking information) that will help make your presence count. Volunteers also will be on hand to ensure that people get the chance to testify during the hearing.
Take a personal day off work, skip class, re-arrange your schedule and head to USC or El Segundo today.
Let Martin know that he can’t simply ignore public opinion. Los Angeles is our best chance to set the tone for future hearings. Media concentration is bad news for the American public. It’s time the FCC stopped Big Media.
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