Christmas for Big Media: FCC media giveaway planned for tomorrow. Help stop it.

from The Nation:




BLOG | Posted 12/17/2007 @ 1:19pm
Christmas for Big Media



In less than 24 hours, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin plans to hold a vote on rules that will let the largest media companies swallow up more local newspapers and TV stations.

As I posted about last week, Martin is forging on with the vote, which he knows he will win, despite bipartisan Congressional requests to delay the vote and the adamant opposition of two of the five FCC commissioners. If you care about the dismal state of the media, please stop what you're doing and lend a hand.

The media reform group Free Press is operating on overdrive trying to generate at least 100 calls to every US senator before 5:00 p.m. today asking the lawmakers to pressure the FCC to delay tomorrow's vote until Congress can vote on the Media Ownership Act of 2007 (S. 2332), which is waiting for a vote on the Senate floor. Click here to find your Senator's phone number and click here to check out useful talking points.

Just last week, senators from both parties berated FCC Chairman Kevin Martin about his big giveaway to Big Media. He didn't flinch. He's now thumbing his nose at both Congress and the public. There's less than a day to derail Big Media's efforts to eliminate regulatory roadblocks to increasingly rapid media concentration. Call your Senators immediately.

If you need any incentive to act, check out this new YouTube video from Free Press which shows how high the stakes really are: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=260798

No surprise here, no one listens to the GAO or the OMB. Why should monopolies have the gummit stand in the way of making money? :sarcasm:

If these companies want to destroy themselves any further, by all means, let them.

The Dallas Observer, a Village Voice Media-owned publication, just went through another music editor, and the locals are so pissed at the lack of local music coverage in their allegedly local alternative weekly that a bunch of local-only blogs have gone up.

HOWEVER -

If you have a MySpace account, you might want to add Harry and the Potters as your friend and see what they're doing :)

who are working to stop this FCC action.

Cuz they'd rather talk about poll numbers and cocaine.