Bipartisan FCC Attendance at Town Meeting in Columbus
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.
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.
I won’t be able to attend the town hall meeting, but I would be interested in hearing how the commissioners would respond to the idea that media consolidation actually promotes diversity of voice in the media. In the current market, broadcasters must compete not only amongst one another but also against cable, satellite (both television and radio), and the Internet for the advertising dollars on which they rely. It would seem to me that without the resources afforded by corporate ownership, many of these outfits simply could not afford to continue operating and would be forced to close their doors, resulting in a further loss of independent voices and programming.
February 28th, 2007 at 5:52 pm