WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has virtually no evidence of citizen backing for their controversial media ownership plan, according to an analysis of comments filed in the FCC’s ongoing rulemaking.
The Future of Music Coalition today released a survey of the comments available for public review in the Broadcast Ownership rulemaking (Docket 02-277). Citizen response to these proposed rule changes is overwhelmingly negative. As of May 8, 2003, 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.
“The FCC asked citizens to file comments on a broad set of questions related to media ownership, and they have in record numbers. It’s hard to read these comments and find evidence that the public supports rule changes that would lead to more media consolidation,” said Future of Music Coalition Executive Director Jenny Toomey.
FCC commissioners and staff have claimed that over 15,000 comments have been received by the agency on this issue. However, only approximately 9360 comments are viewable on the FCC website at http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi. Over the past ten days, two dozen volunteers have collaborated with the Future of Music Coalition to analyze these comments.
“For much too long, the FCC has gotten away with making critical policy decisions behind closed doors, without public input,” said author, professor and Free Press founder Robert McChesney. “In this instance, the public has spoken in overwhelming numbers. But the FCC leadership seems bound and determined to push their corrupt agenda, no matter what the public says.”
As part of its biennial review process, the FCC is examining a large and fundamental set of rules that currently prevent one broadcast network from owning another broadcast network, limit the number of local broadcast stations that any one broadcaster can own to systems serving 35 percent of the TV-viewing households, and prohibit a company from owning cable TV systems and TV stations in the same community. The agency is also contemplating eliminating rules that prohibit cross-ownership of TV stations and newspapers in the same city. FCC Chairman Powell has announced a vote will be held on these rule changes on June 2, 2003.
The vast majority of citizens filing comments view the proposed changes as a threat to a vibrant and functioning democracy. Others are troubled by the lack of news coverage of these rule changes, with many articulating the obvious self-interest the major media companies have in ignoring these crucial issues. Some citizens question the sincerity of Chairman Powell in acknowledging that the public comments are of equal value as those made by the corporations that would benefit from loosened rules. Citizen William J. O’Keefe from Tolland, CT writes to Chairman Powell:
“You have publicly expressed your enormous satisfaction with the staggering number of people, (15,000) who, by submitting their comments, have expressed an interest in the FCC’s review of broadcast media ownership regulations. What does the number of citizen votes have to be in order for the FCC to consider them significant enough to force a decision 1,500,000? 15,000,000? Without a single focused and well financed voice to petition their case, in the end, you can ignore their input, decide in favor of the moneyed interest, and issue a glittering generality type of statement thanking all of those individuals who participated in the democratic process.”
“Reading the comments in this docket has been both inspiring and disheartening,” said FMC’s Director of Research Kristin Thomson. “Many citizens express a growing dissatisfaction with the trends in their local media, and insist that the FCC show a genuine commitment to localism, competition and diversity. But it’s also frustrating to know that, even with the vast majority of comments expressing decisive opposition to the rule changes, citizens’ voices seem to be falling on deaf ears.”
The comments on Docket 02-277 are just a portion of the messages that have been sent to the FCC on this media ownership rulemaking. On May 2, over thirty high-profile musicians signed a letter that urged the FCC to retain the ownership caps. The letter was co-signed by Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, David Crosby, Neil Diamond, John Doe, Don Henley, Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers), 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.
To date, over 800 working musicians, artists and citizens have co-signed the letter. The signatories can be reviewed here: http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/FCCmusicianletterView.cfm
Data Analysis
The analysis of the docket – broken down by state and coded according to author and position stated – is available for review. Please contact Kristin Thomson at kristin [at] futureofmusic [dot] org to request a copy. For more information about this project read the FAQ.
About Free Press
Free Press is a national organization working to increase informed public participation in crucial media policy debates. The ultimate aim of Free Press is to generate a range of policies that will produce a more competitive and public interest-oriented media system with a strong nonprofit and noncommercial sector. http://www.mediareform.net
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More