50 Groups Urge FCC to Support Media Diversity

Posted September 16th, 2009 by Megan Tady

It isn’t easy to pull together dozens of groups to support one issue, but in this case, we’re all in agreement: Attacks against localism and diversity in the media must be countered.

More than 50 public interest and civil rights groups, including Free Press, today sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and congressional leaders in support of Mark Lloyd, the associate general counsel and chief diversity officer of the FCC.

Lloyd, an established scholar and respected public servant, was hired by the FCC to expand media opportunities for women, people of color, small businesses, and those living in rural areas. It’s a tough job, considering the abysmal state of diversity in mainstream media.

But his job has become even tougher in recent weeks as pundits on cable TV and radio have attacked Lloyd using misleading information and innuendo. They’re attempting to persuade the American people that localism and diversity is something to fear, and that Lloyd himself is an enemy of democracy.

In truth, these media extremists – Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, and others – want to safeguard their media empires without new competition and new voices. Read my colleague’s blog to get the inside scoop on their scheme.

The FCC should stand by Lloyd and speak up to correct the record on localism and diversity policies. We need more voices in the media, not fewer.

The full text of the letter and a list of signatories is below:

To: FCC Commissioners and Congressional Leaders

We, the undersigned, ask you to speak out against the falsehoods and misinformation that are threatening to derail important work by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission on media and technology policies that would benefit all Americans.

In recent weeks, Mark Lloyd, the associate general counsel and chief diversity officer of the FCC, has come under attack by prominent cable TV and radio hosts, and even by some members of Congress, who have made false and misleading claims about his work at the agency.

Mr. Lloyd is a respected historian, an experienced civil rights leader, and a dedicated public servant. He was hired by the FCC to “collaborate on the policies and legal framework necessary to expand opportunities for women, minorities, and small businesses to participate in the communications marketplace.” His important work should not be hindered by lies and innuendo.

As the leading media policymakers in Washington, we ask you to speak out against these unfounded attacks, stand publicly behind Mr. Lloyd, and make clear your commitment to carrying out the core mandate of the FCC — as enshrined in the Communications Act of 1934 — to promote localism, diversity and competition in the media.
Let us be clear what “localism” actually means. Broadcasters get hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of subsidies in exchange for a basic commitment to serve the public interest. Broadcasters are expected to be responsive to their local communities. Localism has been a cornerstone of broadcast regulation as long as there has been broadcast regulation. It has nothing to do with censorship or interference with local programming decisions. Localism is simply about public service, not about any political viewpoint. Local public service programming and political talk radio, whether liberal or conservative, are not mutually exclusive.

Likewise, as the Supreme Court has recognized, “Safeguarding the public’s right to receive a diversity of views and information over the airwaves is … an integral component of the FCC’s mission.” Diversity of media ownership is a crucial issue, and the agency must address the fact that women and people of color are vastly underrepresented among media owners using the public airwaves.

But diversity is also about closing the digital divide: People of color, the poor, and rural Americans are far less likely to have high-speed Internet access at home or share in the benefits of broadband. Diversity is about creating opportunities and broadening participation; it should go without saying, but it has absolutely nothing to do with censorship.

The third tenet of the FCC’s mission is competition. Those using their media megaphones to slander and distort the views of Mr. Lloyd and others may not want competition. But the FCC’s job, in its own words, is “to strengthen the diverse and robust marketplace of ideas that is essential to our democracy.” The overriding goal must be more speech, not less — more radio stations, more cable channels, and more Web sites.

At the core of President Obama’s media and technology agenda is a commitment to “diversity in the ownership of broadcast media” and a pledge to “promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints.” Now is the time to further that agenda, not to retreat from it.

We ask you, as leaders on these key media issues, to draw a line in the sand now, speak out against the unfounded attacks, and redouble your efforts to enact a policy agenda that will strengthen our economy, our society, and our democracy.

Sincerely,

Josh Silver
Free Press

Wade Henderson
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

Winnie Stachelberg
Center for American Progress

James Rucker
ColorOfChange.org

Stephanie Jones
National Urban League Policy Institute

Brent Wilkes
League of United Latin American Citizens

Larry Cohen
Communications Workers of America

Alex Nogales
National Hispanic Media Coalition

Bernie Lunzer
The Newspaper Guild
Communications Workers of America

Kimberly Marcus
Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s Public Policy Institute

Malkia Cyril
Center for Media Justice

Andrew Schwartzman
Media Access Project

John Kosinski
Writers Guild of America West

Sandy Close
New America Media

Amalia Deloney
Media Action Grassroots Network

Angelo Falcon
National Institute for Latino Policy

Michael Calabrese
New America Foundation

Gigi Sohn
Public Knowledge

Rinku Sen
Applied Research Center

John Clark
National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians
Communications Workers of America

Graciela Sanchez
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

Mimi Pickering
Appalshop

Steven Renderos
Main Street Project

Hal Ponder
American Federation of Musicians

Tracy Rosenberg
Media Alliance

Terry O’Neill
National Organization for Women

Roger Hickey
Campaign for America’s Future

Andrea Quijada
New Mexico Media Literacy Project

Jonathan Lawson
Reclaim the Media

DeAnne Cuellar
Texas Media Empowerment Project

Chris Rabb
Afro-Netizen

Loris Ann Taylor

Lisa Fager Bediako
Industry Ears

O. Ricardo Pimentel
National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Todd Wolfson
Media Mobilizing Project

Erica Williams
Campus Progress

Gary Flowers
Black Leadership Forum

Eva Paterson
Equal Justice Society

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr
Hip Hop Caucus

Cheryl Contee
Jack and Jill Politics

Dr. E. Faye Williams
National Congress of Black Women

Emily Sheketoff
American Library Association

Ari Rabin-Havt
Media Matters Action Network

Kathryn Galan
National Association of Latino Independent Producers

Roberto Lovato
Presente

Joshua Breitbart
People’s Production House

Karen Bond National
Black Coalition for Media Justice

Tracy Van Slyke
Media Consortium

Shireen Mitchell
Digital Sisters, Inc
Media and Technology Task Force
National Council of Women’s Organizations

Ariel Dougherty
Media Equity Collaborative

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 11:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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