{"id":648,"date":"2007-10-18T11:18:47","date_gmt":"2007-10-18T18:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=648"},"modified":"2007-12-05T12:24:52","modified_gmt":"2007-12-05T20:24:52","slug":"fcc-still-shilling-for-big-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=648","title":{"rendered":"FCC Still Shilling For Big Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months – a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The New York Times, a big media conglomerate, is severely understating the impact of these proposed rules. By relaxing ownership caps, the FCC will be exacerbating a problem that is already destroying free and diverse media in this country. In the past 25 years, the number of companies that controlled the majority of media output plunged from 50 to 5. The FCC thinks that that is a positive trend and is doing its best to sustain and advance it.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time the FCC has taken such steps. The previous chairman, Michael Powell, tried to ram through similar rules but was beat back by the public and reversed by the courts. Martin is pretending to rectify Powell’s errors by staging events ostensibly to collect public opinion. However, he is now brazenly ignoring that opinion.<\/p>\n

A year ago the FCC held hearings in Los Angeles<\/a> that demonstrated a passionate opposition to further consolidation. The audience was probably 90+ percent opposed to relaxing ownership caps. That story was repeated in seven more cities where the FCC brought its show. Now Martin is justifying his proposed new rules by claiming that they were drafted with input from the public. The only problem is that nowhere in his proposal are the public’s views represented. It’s as if they never existed.<\/p>\n


\n\"Tell<\/a>The FCC’s genuflection to Big Media was blocked last time because Americans in unprecedented numbers demanded fairness and independence. We must do so again. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan<\/a> has long been a leader in this fight. Let him know that you appreciate his courage in taking on the media, an institution that could do him much harm. Also, visit FreePress and its affiliate Stop Big Media<\/a>. Their site is stocked with information and tools to help you be an effective advocate for media reform.<\/p>\n

This is a serious matter and demands a commitment to fight. Chairman Martin is determined to reward his Big Media patrons. No matter what other issue you are involved with, it is this issue that shapes the outcome. You cannot end the war in Iraq, or pass universal health care, or advance environmental protections, or [fill in the blank]<\/em> without access to media that is responsible and accountable to citizens. It’s time to get to work…again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the New York Times: “The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.” “Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[87,1138,86],"class_list":["post-648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-media","category-general","tag-byron-dorgan","tag-fcc","tag-kevin-martin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-as","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":126,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=126","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":0},"title":"FCC Chief: Too Many Voices In The News","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/4\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, told an audience of newspaper publishers that he supports repealing the ban on cross-ownership that prohibits owning a newspaper and television station in the same market. These rules promote greater diversity for news consumers, but Martin would prefer to pander to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=292","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":1},"title":"The FCC’s Ownership Quandry","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/7\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Communications Commission is getting it from both sides. A consortium of broadcasters and publishers wrote to Chairman Kevin Martin, to complain that they still don't have as much of a stranglehold on the public's attention as they would like. The letter was signed by all of the broadcast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":698,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=698","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":2},"title":"FCC Bends Over Backwards For Big Media","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/7\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Communications Commission has granted the Tribune Company the waiver it sought to continue operating the newspapers and television stations it owns in the same market. The waiver is required due to a regulation that forbids such cross-ownership. But the decision that produced the waiver was Machiavellian in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":712,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=712","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":3},"title":"The FCC’s Big Media Welfare Act Of 2007","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/18\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"As expected, the Politburo, oops, I mean the FCC voted today to loosen ownership regulations, providing Big Media the opportunity to get even bigger. They split 3 to 2 along party lines with Republicans following their Chairman, Kevin Martin. Prior to the vote, 26 senators signed a letter to Martin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tell the FCC: Stop Big Media","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stopbigmedia.com\/graphics\/blogad.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=231","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":4},"title":"FCC Censors Itself On Local Ownership","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/15\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A report written in 2004 by researchers at the Federal Communications Commission found that local ownership of broadcasters enhanced coverage of community issues. That conclusion directly contradicts prior arguments made by the Commission that claimed consolidation aided localism. The research analyzed over 4,000 hours of news programming and was conducted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1175,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1175","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":5},"title":"Obama To Name Julius Genachowski To Chair The FCC","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/13\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember this name: Julius Genachowski. He appears to be Barack Obama's choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. In that role he will have an opportunity to not only undue a lot of the damage done by Bush's henchmen in the post, Michael Powell and Kevin Martin, but he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCC"","block_context":{"text":"FCC","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=90"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}