Yesterday – June 2 – the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) narrowly approved the most important changes to US media ownership
rules in a generation, relaxing many of the most significant restrictions
on the ownership of newspapers, radio, local television and TV networks.
In a 3-2 partisan vote, the FCC approved a package of rule changes
that previously limited the number of broadcast stations a company
could own in a city and restricted a company from owning both a newspaper
and a radio or television station in the same market. The rules limiting
the size of television networks were also relaxed to enable the networks
to buy more stations.
Commissioners Copps and Adelstein – the two Democrats –
forcefully dissented from these changes. “Today the Federal Communications
Commission empowers America’s new media elite with unacceptable levels
of influence over the ideas and information upon which our society
and our democracy depend,” said Commissioner Michael Copps before
launching into a laser-like critique of the rule changes.
There’s a good review of the rule changes at this
link.
Ironically, now that the vote is over, there are hundreds of news
stories about this decision available for review. Here are a few good sources:
The New
York Times has built a special section about the media ownership rules:
FCC Votes to Ease Media Ownership Rules
By Frank Ahrens
Washington
Post, June 2, 2003
Includes a great sidebar with links to ownership rules and all the
commissioners’ statements.
Michael Powell and the FCC: Giving Away the Marketplace of Ideas
By Tom Shales
Washington
Post, June 2, 2003
After attending today’s FCC proceeding and watching the Capitol
Hill press conferences, the Future
of Music Coalition released its own statement about the decision.
In it we say:
“Today the Republican majority at the FCC made a cynical and
short-sighted decision to push forward with their campaign to reduce
and eliminate time-honored rules and safeguards which have defended
citizen’s access to diverse, competitive and local media. In
doing so they blatantly ignored the will of public and warnings from
industry leaders, congressional representatives, city councils, consumer
advocates, academics, creators and community groups. These rules were
originally enacted to prevent the growth of media monopolies and ensure
a diversity of voices. In their absence we anticipate a period of
unprecedented consolidation and a swift transformation of our existing
media to one that is less representative, less responsive, less diverse,
and less competitive. The negative impact of these changes on culture,
civic participation and democracy cannot be understated.” […]
You can read the entire statement here.
This statement is just the most recent effort in our ongoing work
to highlight media ownership issues and their effects on citizens
and musicians. Over the past year, the FMC has conducted research,
written testimony, sent letters, organized artists and talked to the
press about the negative consequences of the FCC’s effort to
remove media ownership rules. To recap:
Research
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In November 2002, the FMC released “Radio
Deregulation: Has it Served Citizens and Musicians?” This
report was a thorough analysis and documentation of the state of the
radio industry since its deregulation following the 1996 Telecommunications
Act. The FMC concluded that radio’s unprecedented consolidation
since 1996 should serve as a “cautionary tale” for policymakers
considering deregulation of other media.
Hearings and Testimony
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In January 2003, Jenny Toomey joined Eagle’s rocker Don Henley,
Clear Channel’s Lowry Mays, NAB’s Eddie Fritts and broadcaster
Robert Short in front of the Senate Commerce Committee on radio ownership
issues. Over the following months FMC board members also participated
in many other hearings. Jenny testified at the only FCC-sanctioned
hearing in Richmond, VA. She also participated in the raucous FCC
hearing in Seattle, a forum on ownership at Columbia University Law
School, and the hearing in Durham, NC. Peter DiCola testified at the
hearing in Detroit, MI. Kristin Thomson attended the public hearing
in Philadelphia organized by Media Tank, and Michael Bracy participated
in a roundtable at the FCC last week and attended yesterday’s
vote. You can review various testimony and statements here.
Coalition Efforts
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In March 2003, the FMC joined a broad coalition of consumer advocates,
unions, and community groups to send letters to Chairman Powell and
members of Congress expressing our concern about the proposed ownership
changes. You can review the letters here.
Getting Musicians’ Message to FCC
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In April 2003, the FMC worked with other music organizations to send
a letter co-signed by an impressive list of well-known and respected
musicians to FCC’s chairman Michael Powell. The letter urged
the FCC to grant Congress and the public a full opportunity to review
any proposed changes of media ownership rules before they are enacted.
The letter was co-signed by Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, David Crosby,
Neil Diamond, John Doe, Don Henley, Indigo Girls, Billy Joel, Lenny
Kaye, Toby Keith, Ian MacKaye, Ray Manzarek, Ellis L. Marsalis, Jr.,
Mya, Tim McGraw, Paul D. Miller, Sam Moore, Thurston Moore, Stevie
Nicks, Joan Osborne, Van Dyke Parks, Pearl Jam, Sandy Pearlman, Tom
Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Kevin Richardson, Patti Smith, Stephan Smith,
Michael Stipe, Tom Waits, Jennifer Warnes, Saul Williams, and Nancy Wilson.
The FMC also invited any musicians equally concerned about media ownership
issues to co-sign this letter. To date over 4100 musicians added their
signatures to the document, which was re-delivered to the FCC on May
28. You can read the letter or review the list of signatories here.
Here’s a bit of press about it:
Musicians blast FCC plan
Members of R.E.M., Pearl Jam decry radio consolidation
By Joanne Ostrow
Denver
Post, May 22, 2003
Rock stars rap FCC proposal
by Greg Gatlin
Boston
Herald, May 22, 2003
Rock against media deregulation
Steve Terrell
Santa
Fe New Mexican, May 9, 2003
(scroll down to second half)
Musicians Against Media Monopoly
By John Nichols
The
Nation, May 1, 2003
Prominent musicians ask FCC to delay eliminating rules for deregulation
in radio
By Rick Karr
NPR’s
Morning Edition, April 30, 2003
More Research
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In late April the FMC did what it seemed like nobody else had done,
including the FCC itself – we actually read and evaluated the
comments filed by citizens in the FCC’s docket on this rulemaking.
With the help of nearly 20 FMC volunteers, we were able to review
and rate each public comment in the docket as of May 8, which totaled
nearly 10,000 comments. On May 14 we released the results of this
analysis. Of the 9360 citizen comments reviewed, 9065 citizens unaffiliated
to a corporation, organization or association opposed changing existing
media ownership rules that would pave the way for further consolidation,
while only 11 unaffiliated citizens supported changing the rules,
which indicated overwhelming public opposition to these rule changes.
You can check out more about this research project on the FMC website.
Press release about the FCC
docket analysis – check out the pie chart!
FAQ about the docket analysis
A chart showing the state-by-state tallies
The FMC would like to THANK all our amazing volunteers for helping
us with this monumental data analysis project. The research was not
only referenced publicly by members of Congress – Senators Barbara
Boxer and Wayne Allard, most notably – and FCC commissioners,
but was also highlighted in Billboard, Radio and Records, Congress
Daily, NPR’s Talk of the Nation and Morning Edition, The Nation,
Salon.com, CNN, The Washington Post, and ABC’s Sunday morning
talk show hosted by George Stephanopoulis. A PDF of these press clips
is downloadable here.
And a couple of key press stories about the public and the FCC:
FCC: Public Be Damned
by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney
The
Nation, June 2, 2003
Last stop before the media monopoly
FCC chairman Michael Powell is likely to get media ownership deregulated
— even though public comment is running 97 percent against it.
By Eric Boehlert
Salon.com,
May 23, 2003
The big blackout
Surprise, surprise: The TV networks that will benefit from the
new FCC rules on media ownership have been keeping their viewers in
the dark about the changes.
By Eric Boehlert
Salon.com,
May 22, 2003
Rule Changes Already Under Attack
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Many have speculated that today’s rule changes would be swiftly
challenged in court. But even before any telecom lawyers could get
their briefs in order, a number of senators called a press conference
on Capitol Hill announcing their concern about certain portions of
the rule changes. Less than an hour after the FCC hearing was over,
Senators Lott, Dorgan and Hollings were suggesting that they might
have enough votes in the Senate to overturn rule that increased the
national TV ownership cap from 35 percent to 45 percent.
Things might get even more interesting on Wednesday morning at 9:30
AM ET when all five FCC commissioners will appear before the Senate
Commerce Committee. Chaired by Senator John McCain, the commissioners
will most likely be grilled by committee members on yesterday’s
rule changes – something we wish had happened before the rule
changes were voted upon but we appreciate the Committee’s continued
interest in this topic. This hearing will be webcast via http://www.capitolhearings.org
and most likely be broadcast live on CSPAN.
And if that wasn’t enough for one day, two key members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee – Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and
Herb Kohl (D-WI) – expressed “serious reservations”
about the FCC decision and said future media mergers should get close
scrutiny from antitrust regulators at the Justice Department and Federal
Trade Commission. The senators issued a joint statement saying the
agencies should “stand guard to prevent deals which will substantially
injure competition in these industries that are so vital in providing
the news and information relied upon by millions of Americans.”
What You Can Do
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With Congress all hot under the collar about these rule changes, the
next few days are an excellent time for you to write or call your
federal representatives to express your views on media ownership.
It’s critical that they hear from constituents who can offer
personal stories and experiences about how media consolidation has
impacted the quality of radio, newspapers and TV in their communities.
This can happen either via phone or email.
Not sure how to get in touch with your elected officials? Go
here and type in your ZIP
If you call, explain that you are a constituent and you would like
to speak to the staff person who handles media ownership issues. If
you get voice mail, leave your name and number along with a brief
message. Most members will also provide email address or webforms
on their personal web pages.
If you’d like some more information about these issues before sending
your message or calling, go to our media
activism page or visit the Free Press website at http://www.mediareform.net
The FMC pledges to keep on top of these issues as they develop. As
more of our mass media is controlled by multinational conglomerates,
it becomes much more critical for policy makers to promote structures
that guard independent and non-commercial voices. Over the next few
months, FMC will work to promote issues such as webcasting and low
power FM, both of which provide new ways for alternative voices and
music to be heard.