And now we need l00,000 people to get Congress to reverse the FCC of George W. Bush to reverse the commission’s sellout to the Big Media who supported us going into Iraq and are now helping keep us there
By Bruce B. Brugmann
(Scroll down to sign a protest letter to Congress and the New York Times story)
As expected, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his two Republican colleagues approved new rules that will unleash yet another flood oer media consolidation across the country. As expected, the Big Media is either blacking out or minimalizing the story, with the notable exception of the New York Times which ran an opposing editorial in Monday’s edition and a strong story online today. (See below).
As Robert McChesney, the president of Free Press, a valiant media reform group puts it in an action alert,
“This is about whether we will have access to the information that democracy requires. it is about whether or not we’ll have real news and local voices on radio, trelevision, and in the newspaper in your town. It’s about whether the public airwaves will represent our nation’s diversity.”
Or, let me add, a city’s diversity, such as San Francsico. Remember the Will and Willie show on the Quake on Clear Channel, a highly valuable show that was killed brutally with no explanation because it didn’t have high enough ratings and wasn’t able to go national? That’s but one local example of this dreadful phenomenon. There are some good people on the liberal Quake on Clear Channel (Thom Hartman, Big Ed Schulz, Randi Rhodes, Rachel Matteo, et al), but none of them bring a San Francisco perspective to the show, even though the city is one of the most liberal and civilized cities in tthe world and has the Speaker of the House and two California Senators (Diane Feinstein in the city, Barbara Boxer in Marin).
McChesney rolls the drums and points out that in 2003 the FCC tried to do the same thing, but millions of people demanded that Congress reject the FCC’s rules. And they did, thanks in large part to McChesney’s group. And it’s ttime to do it again. Sign the open letter to Congress, as suggested in the alert below. B3
Read the New York Times article here.
Dear Charles,
It happened. A few minutes ago, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his two fellow GOP commissioners approved new rules that will unleash a flood of media consolidation across America. The rules will further consolidate local media markets — taking away independent voices in cities already woefully short on local news and investigative journalism.
In 2003, the FCC tried to do the same thing, but millions of people demanded that Congress reject the FCC’s rules. And they did. It’s time to do it again.
We need 100,000 people to get Congress to reverse the FCC’s rules right now.
Sign Our Open Letter to Congress
Then get three of your friends to do the same.
This is about whether we will have access to the information that democracy requires. It is about whether or not we’ll have real news and local voices on radio, television and in the newspaper in your town. It’s about whether the public airwaves will represent our nation’s diversity.
Just yesterday — spurred by your calls and letters — 26 senators from both parties sent a letter to the FCC Chairman promising “to revoke and nullify the proposed rule” if the FCC voted to lift the longstanding ban on “newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership.” But Chairman Martin did it anyway.
Congress has the power to throw out these rules — and if 100,000 people demand it, they’ll have to listen.
Take action now and spread the word.
Some say that nobody listens to letters like this. Well they definitely do, and it’s a way you can truly help the cause with just a few clicks. Sign on now — and get your friends to do the same.
Your actions are making a difference. Let’s keep up the pressure. And stay tuned — this fight is far from over.
Thanks for bringing us this far,
Robert McChesney
President
Free Press
www.freepress.net
P.S. Spread the word: Recruit three new friends to sign on to this letter and send the message to Congress.
P.P.S. Read Senator John Kerry’s blog post on today’s decision on the Free Press Action Network.
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