The FCC’s Assault On Our Democracy
Posted December 19th, 2007 by Rep. Louise Slaughter
My friends, I am simply appalled by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision yesterday to allow newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership in major media markets around the country. This egregious ruling, rammed through on a party line vote by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, allows near unfettered consolidation of local media outlets by some of the largest corporations in America. The Democratic commissioners said it right, this is a “Christmas present to the nation’s largest conglomerates.”
 Guest Blog Post by Rep. Louise Slaughter |
The ruling loosened a 32-year-old restriction preventing a single company from owning newspapers, as well as television or radio stations in the twenty largest media markets in America. The ability of the Rupert Murdochs of the world to acquire the available news outlets in a single media market will severely restrict the public’s access to free media by making it extremely difficult for independent or competing voices to be heard.
However, isn’t the very foundation of this country based on exactly the opposite premise, that independent and competing voices are essential to the health and vitality of our democracy?
By permitting a few giant conglomerates to own most of the newspapers, as well as the television or radio stations within a single city, the traffic of information is held hostage to the executives in a few corporate boardrooms. Instead of making decisions about content that is based on fairness, or balance, or localism, or diversity, or democratic principles, decisions about what information the American public hear and see will be made with only the company’s bottom line in mind.
Is that democracy?
The airwaves are owned by the public, not the mega media corporations. The American people deserve information from many different, independent outlets, with diverse, fair coverage from all sides of an issue, and different points of view.
Otherwise, how can we make informed decisions about the many issues that will affect our lives and the direction of our country?
I believe that the future of our very democracy depends on the answer to that question.
In solidarity,
Louise M. Slaughter
I have a question
Do those big media corporations pay the government any money for using the public airwaves like it happens in Europe and else where in the free world?
Sure the airwaves are owned by the public but we don’t all own a radio or tv station.
Those who use public airwaves for commercial reasons what do they give back to the State for allowing them to broadcast freely using OUR airwaves?
December 19th, 2007 at 3:53 pmGreat question Poirot…
Big Media companies get to use the public airwaves for free, even though they have been valued at half a trillion dollars. When the FCC gives a media company a license to use the public airwaves, that company is supposed to serve the public interest.
It used to be that the station had to reapply every three years and provide volumes of information about how they were serving the public. However, the FCC now only makes stations reapply every eight years, and it is pretty much a postcard process. The station sends a postcard and the FCC rubber stamps it. In addition, the definition of what it means to serve the public interest has gotten watered down. One stations recently said that it served its community by covering local sports teams.
But communities have mobilized to challenge these licenses. See http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=newark for one example. Check out this link to see who owns the media: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/chart.php and see http://www.freepress.net/guide/ for more background on these issues.
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