The National Crisis in Minority Media Ownership
In a guest post, Rep. Hilda Solis calls on the FCC to establish a task force to study the impact of media consolidation on female and minority ownership. Join the conversation in the comments section below. Rep. Solis will return later to respond to your questions and comments. You can also join Rep. Solis in calling for an independent task force on minority media ownership. Submit your comments to the FCC today.
By Rep. Hilda Solis
 Guest Blog Post by Rep. Hilda Solis
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The state of minority media ownership in
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Chairman Kevin Martin has simply failed in recent years to address the enormous disparity in minority ownership, including women. Their historic neglect is simply unacceptable and cannot be allowed continue. The FCC must not allow new media ownership rules to move forward and further potential consolidation to occur without first addressing minority ownership issues.
For this reason, I recently sent a letter to Chairman Martin in strong support of a proposal by Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to create an independent task force to examine proposals to increase minority ownership. Furthermore, I requested that the FCC forgo any new media ownership regulations until the work of the task force is completed and the FCC adopts its recommendations.
Given the incredibly low levels of minority ownership in the
Thank you Representative Solis for taking the time to address this important issue. I have one question for you: As the FCC has failed dismally to protect diversity over the airwaves, what more can Congress do to put this issue on the front burner and ensure that our airwaves truly reflect the needs of all Americans?
Thank you.
September 27th, 2007 at 10:19 amDear Rep. Solis,
Thank you for writing the letter to Chairman Martin and thank you for taking the time to speak to the activist community here at StopBigMedia.com.
It seems to me that the FCC is headed down a path towards allowing more local media consolidation, much as they did in 2003. Back then that effort was fortunately stopped by a combination of public outrage, bi-partisan outrage in Congress, and ultimately by the court’s decision to remand the rules.
It appears that Chairman Martin is doing his best to keep up appearances — so as not to repeat all the mistakes of his predecessor Michael Powell — but that he will move to give the Big Media Companies what they want.
My question is then, why doesn’t Congress step in now, before the damage is done? Wouldn’t it send a very strong message to the FCC if the Congress passed a resolution ordering the FCC to address minority ownership prior to making any further deregulation? It seems that all the data indicates that the best way to increase minority/female ownership is to reduce the massive amounts of broadcast media consolidation, freeing up stations that new minority and women owned companies can purchase (helped perhaps by a Congressional reinstatement of the tax certificate program).
I think given the level of bipartisan outrage expressed by the Republican-controlled 2003 Congress that mustering up votes for such action in this 2007 Congress would be much easier.
Thanks again for your work in this important area.
—Arturo Bandini
September 27th, 2007 at 10:29 amDear Rep. Solis,
Thanks for coming to this forum to connect with the public and listen to their concerns.
I was at the Chicago hearing when Commissioner Adelstein proposed the idea of an independent panel to study the impact of media consolidation on minority ownership, and applaud him for his leadership and thank you for your support of this panel.
While in Chicago I had the good fortune to travel to number of communities across the city, and at the hearing I listened carefully as small business owners, faith leaders, publishers, students, mothers, hip hop artists, and many others said over and over again - media is a life and death issue. I was struck by this resounding message.
In communities, on the ground, media is not just about news and entertainment, it is a public health issue, a public safety issue, and an issue that reaches across all communities.
For too long, media has been considered by many, as just another business. If media is indeed a matter of life and death, not just a business, how should Congress respond to address this public health concern?
September 27th, 2007 at 3:58 pmWhile there are many things that need to be done to ensure more diversity in media ownership, one easy step Congress can take to ensure there are more diverse voices represented on the air is to allow for the license of more low power FM community radio stations. LPFM is all about localism, diversity, and a focus on programming, from public affairs to music, that too often is absent in the corporate media.
Representative Solis, I hope you will work to encourage your colleagues to support HR 2802, the Local Community Radio Act. This bill would expand LPFM beyond the limited areas it is restricted to now, opening up new licensing opportunities for groups operating in larger communities, and ensuring more voices are heard.
Shawn Campbell
September 27th, 2007 at 5:59 pmFounder, Chicago Independent Radio Project