If you’re in the Boston area, Democratic FCC commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will be at Emerson College on Tuesday, October 23, from 2-4 p.m., in the Bill Bordy Auditorium, 216 Tremont St. on the Emerson campus. It’s free and open to the public. Make your voice heard!
And, here’s the link to contact your congressperson through FreePress and StopBigMedia Call on Congress to Hold Hearings on Media Ownership!
There is already way too much media consolidation, only a few large corporations own most of our media. Much of this came about from the loosening of restrictions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This consolidation severly limits and suppresses coverage, diversity of views and opinions, minority & women’s ownership, and drives up costs. If you’ve seen Bill Moyer’s documentaries about the run-up to the Iraq War, I don’t have to tell you how serious this issue really is!
It’s important to let the two Democratic FCC Commissioners know how you feel by showing up at this forum as well as by sending the FCC letters and emails. We need them to be as strong as possible on this issue. (I read somewhere that Adelstein was thinking about compromising on some of these issues, so he needs to hear from us!)
It is also as important to contact your Representative to exert pressure on the FCC Chairman, to stop him from railroading this through so quickly without time for citizen response or court challenges. Until we have a Democratic president, we do not have the deciding vote at the FCC (it’s 3R – 2D right now). And the Telecommunications Act of 1996 happened under the watch of Bill Clinton (it was a complicated bill that had as much good as bad in it, so it may not have been obvious what the fallout from it would be at the time).
I also recommend that you contact Edward Markey, whether or not your are in his district, as he is Chair of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet which oversees these issues.
crossposted on dailykos
Below is the information about the forum posted on the Emerson College website. I hope the forum will get good attendance and bring this important issue to the forefront as it has a direct impact ON EVERY OTHER PROGRESSIVE ISSUE!
Oct. 23rd forum will examine impact of media ownership concentration
10/15/07
Two of the five members of the Federal Communications Commission, an Emmy Award-winning television producer and a former television network executive will discuss the impact of federal rules governing the concentration of ownership of television broadcast outlets and content at a public forum hosted by Emerson College on Tuesday, October 23, from 2-4 p.m., in the Bill Bordy Auditorium, 216 Tremont St. on the Emerson campus.
Commissioner Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein will be joined by America’s Funniest Home Videos Executive Producer Vin Di Bona (above), and veteran network executive Lucille Salhany. The dean of Emerson’s School of Communication, Janis Andersen, will moderate the discussion.
The FCC has nearly completed its quadrennial review of media ownership rules. These rules determine the reach any one media company can have, the level and enforcement of public interest obligations, radio and television licenses, how communities are both seen and see themselves on television and radio and, ultimately, who owns the mass media.
The ownership rules also have profound implications for those in the media industry itself, including small and local owners and entrepreneurs who produce programming. Critics of concentration argue that it adversely affects the diversity of programming offered by major media outlets.
Di Bona, an Emerson alumnus, is chairman of the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors and a recent recipient of a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His credits include several critically acclaimed films and numerous reality-based television programs as well as America’s Funniest Home Videos. Salhany is the former chief executive officer and president of UPN, former chairman of Fox Broadcasting and former chairman of Twentieth Television, and the first woman to head a television network. Di Bona and Salhany serve on the Emerson Board of Trustees.
The forum is free and open to the public.
Discuss
4 Comments . Leave a comment below.Post this on as many sites as you can and send it around! Let's get a fantastic turnout Tuesday!
A little story about our road trip to the FCC hearing that rougegorge, bluestateblues, amadahere, and I attended in Portland, Maine: Little Miss Sunshine at the FCC Hearing
Here's rougegorge's testimony
and here's mine.
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