The Importance of Local Ownership
Posted June 25th, 2007 by Jen Howard
In anticipation of the FCC Localism Hearing on June 28, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have published an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald asking “whether Mainers have the kind of media outlets they want and need.”
Urging the public to attend the hearing, the commissioners want to know if local residents feel they “are well-served by the media served up to them,” writing that “when it comes to the fate of the people’s airwaves — your airwaves — no voices should be as important as yours.”
The op-ed ran in Sunday’s paper, alongside a feature article on the hearing spotlighting the current media ownership situation in Portland. The article used two real world examples to explain the problem of non-local ownership — and the benefits of locally owned and produced media.
On the positive side, a local radio broadcasting company decided to switch from a nationally syndicated sports program to one that is locally produced and features “year-round” discussions of local teams — a move that caused ratings to climb.
On the flip side, the non-local owner of one of Portland’s TV stations drew widespread local complaints by following the nightly newscast with “commentary taped at the station owner’s home office in Baltimore” giving local residents no opportunity to respond.
These examples underscore the driving point of the FCC Commissioners’ op-ed:
Americans want to listen to hometown talent on the radio and to see local issues and politicians covered on the nightly news. They want to know what’s really going on in their neighborhoods and to see the essentials of their lives reported accurately to the larger world.
If you’re in the Portland area, attend free local workshops to help craft your testimony. Then make sure to come out and testify.
