Archive for February, 2007
Monday, February 26th, 2007 by jhoward
FCC Commissioners from both sides of the aisle will be in Columbus, Ohio on March 7 for the “Town Meeting on the Future of Media.”
Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein, Michael Copps and Robert McDowell will hear local public input on media ownership rules — a rare opportunity for the public to weigh in outside of the six official hearings promised by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
>>>Click here for details on the Columbus event
The Columbus meeting is being sponsored by Free Press, Consumers Union, Common Cause Ohio, United Church of Christ Office of Communications, Inc., Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council, Ohio PIRG, Ohio Citizen Action and Media Bridges.
The local groups welcome the opportunity to speak out about the negative impact of media consolidation.
Maggie Abbulone of Ohio PIRG:
“Consolidation of the media has virtually wiped out Ohio’s local voices. Ohio faces unique local issues requiring local attention and local solutions. We need strong rules that give consumers more choices on the public airwaves to make our media system one that works, first and foremost, for the public good.”
Jack Noragon of Common Cause Ohio:
“If Ohioans lose access to views and news, media moguls may grow richer but our democracy will be poorer. America’s democracy works best when citizens have access to a wide diversity of views and plenty of local news. These are two of our nation’s most important media policy goals.”
If you live near Columbus, please come out and testify.
If you can’t make the event, make your voice heard by filing your comments against more media consolidation.
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Friday, February 23rd, 2007 by caaron
On the eve of the Harrisburg FCC Hearing, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has called on the FCC to crack down on members of the public who stray from their Designated Market Areas to testify before the agency.
In an article in Broadcasting & Cable, NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton complained that there’s “something curious about these so-called localism hearings” attracting attendees from surrounding states and nearby cities.
There are 210 television markets in the United States — and the FCC has promised to hold public hearings in just six of them.
Yet the broadcasters’ lobby is shocked and dismayed that some people might care enough about their local media to take a day off work, get up at dawn, and drive four or five hours for two minutes at the mic during a public hearing. And — here’s the real shocker — they’re not even being paid to be there.
In a letter to FCC Chairman Martin, NAB President David Rehr suggested requiring “all individuals wanting to provide their personal opinions to the Commission [to] identify the city or town where they reside” in order to “ensure that the Commissioners hear from viewers and listeners who actually receive service from stations in the local markets where the hearings are being conducted.”
For decades, everyday people have been shut out of the decisions made by the FCC about the public airwaves — and that’s exactly how groups like the NAB would like to keep it.
Industry representatives and coin-operated experts are paid to attend these events. Instead of trying to intimidate concerned citizens with ID checks, the FCC needs to give the public more than a few days’ notice about these hearings and hold them at a time when more people can actually participate.
Even with the obstacles thrown up by the FCC, more than 300 people showed up in Harrisburg.
No word on whether they had to show their passports to get in the building.
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Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 by jhoward
When the FCC announced its hearing in Harrisburg two weeks ago, it was described as an opportunity for those in the Harrisburg area to “discuss media ownership, including specific issues facing that local market.”
Local and national public interest groups and labor unions plan to do just that.
These groups will be holding a press conference — immediately before the FCC’s hearing — to address the negative impact of consolidation on local communities.
>>>Click here to view the press release
Like many smaller cities, the Harrisburg media market is already highly concentrated, with four firms controlling nearly 80 percent of the area’s local news.
According to the Consumer Federation of America, if the FCC eliminated its rule prohibiting the dominant newspaper from being owned by a local broadcaster, then a single owner could possibly take over 60 percent of the Harrisburg area news market.
Local groups oppose further consolidation, saying that Big Media companies do not serve the needs of their communities.
Rev. Nathaniel Gadsden, broadcaster with Harrisburg’s WHP-TV 21 and 1440 AM:
“Local media works best when it provides information and stories about local people, places and things of interest to the people it serves, and when it reflects the needs of the majority and minority people in the community. We need to protect local media, because it provides a tremendous boost to community cohesion when the media responds to all aspects of the community, regarding race, culture, economic background, gender and religious differences.”
Lauri Lebo, a Harrisburg writer and reporter:
“At a time of fantastic and rapid changes in the presentation of news, information is still, for the most part, gathered by traditional method - knowing your sources, your community and your subject better than anyone else. It still means old-fashioned, shoe-leather journalism. But media consolidation spells cuts in resources, which threatens that depth and breadth of knowledge and does a disservice to democracy.”
Jim Haigh, Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association:
“Our nation’s airwaves are a public trust. Maintaining a license for broadcast spectrum is a privilege, not a right. Community interests take precedent over pure profit. Monopolistic media concentration will further transform our airwaves from a vital public resource into an exclusive tool for a handful of corporations. This hammer will smash competition and muzzle local voices.”
If you live in the Harrisburg area, take time out of your busy schedule to join us and let Chairman Martin know that local communities need locally owned media.
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Friday, February 16th, 2007 by jhoward
Late this afternoon — with just one week to go — the FCC finally announced that its Feb. 23 hearing in Harrisburg, Pa. will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.
This announcement comes on the heels of a letter from four Pennsylvania Representatives — Mike Doyle, Tim Holden, Robert Brady and Allyson Schwartz — expressing concern over the Commission’s failure to adequately notify the public about the time and location of the Harrisburg hearing.
In the letter, the members of Congress took the FCC to task for their late notice:
As this will likely be the only opportunity for Harrisburg residents, and people across Pennsylvania, to speak personally to the FCC and provide input about media ownership, we are greatly concerned that you aren’t providing adequate opportunity for public involvement.
The Pennsylvania Representatives have asked that for future hearings, the FCC give the public enough notice to allow the largest number of citizens to attend.
Click here to view the letter
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Thursday, February 15th, 2007 by jhoward
Last month at the National Conference for Media Reform, a coalition of more than a dozen civil rights, consumer and media groups released six studies dismantling Big Media’s case for consolidation.
The studies were delivered to the FCC with a letter from the groups urging the FCC to stop further media concentration until it starts to promote minority and female ownership of broadcast stations.
With national leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Janet Murguia, head of the National Council of La Raza signed on, one would expect the FCC to respond to the serious concerns raised in the letter.
Instead, the FCC sent its generic form letter addressed to “Consumer”:
Dear Consumer,
Thank you for contacting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The Commission is currently reviewing its media ownership rules. We welcome comments and suggestions about how the FCC might revise them to better satisfy our policy goals and legal obligations. The FCC is holding a series of Public Hearings across the country on this important issue.
Again, thank you for your input. Your views and comments are important to us.
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
Phone: 1-888-225-5322
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
Hardly an appropriate way to respond to our country’s preeminent civil rights leadership.
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Monday, February 12th, 2007 by tkarr
Valentine’s Day is Wednesday, but FCC Chairman Kevin has already received his gift from the public.
In a sugar-coated bid to woo Martin away from corporate media lobbyists, tens of thousands of people have signed and sent an electronic love letter to the man in charge of regulating broadcast ownership.
>> Click here to watch the video
The Valentine’s Day video asks the chairman to get out of bed with Big Media and “send some love to the people you’re really supposed to be serving.”
Last year, Martin was caught in bed with corporate lobbyists (literally, see the photo to the right).
This year is a pivotal year for the chairman. He will be making several decisions that could remove the last remaining safeguards to runaway media consolidation in America.
The public Valentine urges the chairman to spurn corporate advances and help foster more diverse and independent views in our media.
“Stop media conglomerates from swallowing up even more local outlets.” the video asks. “Get out of bed with them and into bed with us.”
>> Click here to sign the card
Read more about the courtship of Kevin in today’s Wall Street Journal “Washington Wire.”
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Thursday, February 8th, 2007 by jhoward
The FCC just announced that it will hold its next hearing on Feb. 23 in Harrisburg, Pa. to discuss “media ownership issues” — specifically those “facing the local market.”
This is the third official hearing — with all five FCC commissioners — since the FCC launched its rule-making procedure that could change local ownership limits.
The first FCC hearing was held in Los Angeles, and attended by more than 1,000 Angelenos from all walks of life. The second hearing was in Nashville, where country legends like George Jones, Porter Wagoner and Naomi Judd testified about the negative impact of consolidation on the country music industry.
Stay tuned to www.StopBigMedia.com/=harrisburg for updates.
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Friday, February 2nd, 2007 by jhoward
How has corporate consolidation of local media impacted American political and cultural life?
That’s the question explored in the new book Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America’s Media. Author Eric Klinenberg found that the past decade of media consolidation has done serious damage to American democracy.
Klinenberg will discuss Fighting for Air with Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott on C-SPAN 2 this Saturday, Feb. 3 at 9 p.m. EST and Sunday, Feb. 4 at 6 and 9 p.m. EST.
Fighting for Air looks at critical communications breakdowns like the chemical spill in Minot, North Dakota to illustrate the harsh consequences of a corporate media system that privileges profit over the public interest. From preprogrammed radio shows, to empty news stations and copycat newspapers, Klinenberg shows how Big Media giants have crushed the quality and diversity of our local media.
As Klinenberg writes:
“The 24-hour, all-you-can-eat buffet of stale news is crushing creative and independent voices, destroying the rich American tradition of local reporting, and clogging the informational arteries that make democracy work.”
Listen to a discussion of Fighting for Air at the National Conference for Media Reform.
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