StopBigMedia.com: Put Diversity Back in the Picture

Put Diversity Back in the Picture

Recent controversies demonstrate how badly we need more diverse, independent and local media owners. But instead of addressing the shockingly low numbers of stations owned by women and people of color, the Federal Communications Commission is actually trying to let the largest companies buy up even more stations!

Off the Dial, a recent study by Free Press, reveals a dismally low level of minority ownership of radio stations in America that has left two-thirds of the U.S. population without stations that represent their communities or serve their needs. Racial or ethnic minorities own just 7.7 percent of all full-power commercial broadcast radio stations, though they account for 33 percent of the U.S. population.

Out of the Picture finds that while minorities make up 33 percent of the U.S. population, they own only 3.26 percent of all broadcast TV stations. The FCC can't simply hand over more broadcast stations to the likes of News Corp., General Electric and Viacom while ignoring the appalling lack of minority owners in the media.

Use the form below to speak out against FCC efforts to make our media system less diverse. Use the text provided or write your own comments about how media consolidation will impact your community.

Note: Information filed on this form will be publicly available, as FCC comments are considered a matter of public record. The FCC does not accept comments from outside the United States.

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I am writing to express my outrage that the FCC has failed in efforts to foster more minority perspectives in mainstream media. The need for more diverse, independent and local media owners has never been greater. But the FCC's policies are promoting exactly the opposite outcome. Recent reports by the media reform organization Free Press found that that while minorities make up 33 percent of the U.S. population, only 3.26 percent of all broadcast TV stations are owned by minorities. The report also finds that the percentage of minority-owned stations has dropped since 1998. Similarly in the radio world, minorities own only 7.7 percent of full power stations while they make up 33 percent of the population. Diversity is the cornerstone of a democratic media system; we cannot afford to lose it in any way. It would be unconscionable for the FCC to let large media owners buy up more local media outlets before redressing the agency's failure to foster minority voices in the media. The FCC should not allow relaxation or elimination of the limits on media ownership without first hearing out widespread public concern about the problems of minority representation and lack of minority broadcast station owners. Allowing further concentration of local media markets, will only worsen the problems we already have. Our democracy requires the free flow of local information from diverse voices. The FCC should stand firm with the public against further concentration of media ownership in the hands of the few.

You are filing a comment on proceeding FP-003 (Media Ownership: Out of the Picture). More information from the FCC on this issue can be found at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266034A1.pdf.

Put Diversity Back in the Picture

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