Big Turnout Expected at Nashville Hearing Today

Posted December 11th, 2006 by Jen Howard

The stage is set for the second official FCC hearing on ownership, due to begin at 1 p.m. CST in Nashville, Tenn. The five FCC Commissioners should be arriving to a packed house — according to Nashville’s CBS affiliate, “seating is expected to be tight” in the 1,000 seat Massey Concert Hall.

>> Click here to watch hearing

Prior to the event, journalists and news industry workers, union members and other supporters will hold a news conference to discuss job loss in the news industry and the harmful effects of growing concentration of media ownership.

>>> Click here for more info on the news conference

The first hearing in Los Angeles was an extraordinary event with people turning out in overwhelming numbers to tell all five FCC commissioners that Americans want to turn back the tide of media consolidation. As in LA, the Nashville event will feature a series of panels to be followed by hours of public testimony. It promises to be another spirited discussion. (The L.A. hearing gave us the now-famous line, “Homogenization is good for milk, but bad for ideas.”)

The FCC will stream live audio of the hearing on their site. And thanks to Mark Burdett of San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia and Elliott Mitchell of the Metropolitan Educational Access Corporation, starting at 1 p.m. CST we will also have streaming video of the hearing.

If you live within driving distance of the hearing 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 Belmont University where opportunities to testify extend from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Let Martin know that he can’t simply ignore public opinion. Media concentration is bad news for the American public. It’s time the FCC stopped Big Media.

UPDATE: According to Broadcasting & Cable, Commissioner McDowell will be unexpectedly absent from today’s hearing. No explanation for absence given.

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