On December 18th, the FCC passed a rule further deregulating media:
The three Republicans on the Commission, Chairman Kevin Martin, Deborah Taylor Tate, and Robert M. McDowell voted for the rule changes, while the two Democrats — Micheal J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein — voted against the measure, despite oppositions by both parties in the Senate.
The new rule eliminated the ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership," meaning one company can now own a radio or television station and a major newspaper in the same city of town.
Despite the fact that, according to Josh Silver at Free Press, "99% of public comments did not support further consolidation," and despite the fact that, according to Tim Winter of the Parents Television Council, "Studies show newspapers do not take television and radio stations to task when they are owned by the same outlet," the FCC went ahead and gave big media companies more room to consolidate at the expense of local coverage, minority ownership, and balanced reporting.
But some in the Senate are fighting back. More info and action items after the jump...
Today, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a "resolution of disapproval" in the Senate that would nullify the FCC's wrong-headed ruling:
Despite the fact that the Senate Commerce Committee had unanimously reported out the Media Ownership Act of 2007, which said the FCC should delay this vote until the agency knew more about the effects on localism and diversity of station ownership, the FCC still moved forward with its vote.
“Our nation is best served when we have access to a variety of media sources,” said Dorgan. “Smaller and independent media outlets across the country provide local news that simply would not exist if large media conglomerates continue their consolidation efforts.”
The resolution is co-sponsored by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. So far, no word has been heard from John McCain.
Along with the grassroots campaigns going forward around this issue from the folks at Free Press, Prometheus Radio, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and others, everyday citizens - people who care about media consolidation, people like you and me - have a role to play in this process.
First, you can contact John McCain and ask for his stance on the issue. Will he co-sponsor the bill? If he's against it, why does he want more media consolidation in America?
Next, you can contact the Obama and Clinton campaigns. Though the two candidates are co-sponsoring the bill as Senators, media issues are campaign issues too. Write them a letter and ask them to address this issue on the campaign trail.
Lastly, contact your Senators and Representatives. Ask them to publicly support Senator Dorgan's resolution.
More media consolidation means less diverse viewpoints, more media bias, and less local coverage. It means the issues you care about get covered less. It means news for the masses, not for you. Take a moment to contact someone and add your voice to the 99% that told the FCC they oppose media consolidation.
Let's take back our airwaves!
(originally posted at The Seminal)