Amy Goodman: The FCC’s Christmas Gift to Big Media

from Truthdig:



The FCC’s Christmas Gift to Big Media

Posted on Dec 24, 2007
By Amy Goodman

On Dec. 18, the five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission met in Washington, D.C., and, by a 3 to 2 vote, passed new regulations that would allow more media consolidation. This, despite the U.S. public’s increasing concern over the nation’s media being controlled by a few giant corporations.

Dissident FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said of the decision: “We generously ask big media to sit on Santa’s knee, tell us what it wants for Christmas, and then push through whatever of these wishes are politically and practically feasible. No test to see if anyone’s been naughty or nice. Just another big, shiny present for the favored few who already hold an FCC license—and a lump of coal for the rest of us. Happy holidays!”

It was Bush-appointed FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, now just 41 years old, who rammed through the rule changes. He has served President Bush well. As deputy general counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, he was active during the Florida recount. Before that he worked for Kenneth Starr at the Office of Independent Counsel during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Rumor has it that he may run for governor of his native North Carolina. His wife, Cathie Martin, was a spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney in the midst of the scandal around the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. She now works on Bush’s communications staff.

The federal regulation in question is the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban. It has for decades prevented the same company from owning both a television or radio station in a town as well as a newspaper. Underlying this ban is the core concept of the public interest. Copps couldn’t have been clearer: “Today’s decision would make George Orwell proud. We claim to be giving the news industry a shot in the arm—but the real effect is to reduce total newsgathering.” Mergers will result in newsroom layoffs and less, not more, coverage of local issues. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071224_the_fccs_christmas_gift_to_big_media/

... for a minute there, I thought your post meant that Amy Goodman was being "offered" to big media as a gift from the FCC... not literally, but meaning that somehow the FCC decision meant that the stations Democracy Now could be listened on could be bought out as a result of the FCC decision. Glad to know it was just that Goodman wrote this piece. Don't scare me like that on a holiday!