Below is an email I received from MoveOn. I will be driving out from Pottstown to Harrisburg on Friday and have room for one person who needs a ride. Hope to see a good turnout.
Here's the info:
The FCC is again trying to loosen media ownership rules—allowing a few massive corporations to swallow up even more local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations. This Friday, the FCC is coming to Harrisburg for a rare public hearing on media ownership.
I'll be at the hearing on Friday and hope you can join me. This is the only time the FCC will visit our region. The hearing will feature an open mic for you to speak personally to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the other four FCC commissioners about media consolidation.
Here are the details:
WHAT: FCC Hearing on Media Ownership
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Friday, February 23rd
WHERE: Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, 222 Market Street, Harrisburg
If you're coming from Philadelphia, sign up for a free bus. From anywhere else, sign up if you need a ride or have extra space in your car. For details or driving directions, click here:
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=harrisburgThe FCC has scheduled this hearing during the workday and with short notice, but it's crucial to fill the room to show the FCC and the press how we feel. I'm taking the day off to be there—can you join me?
Without your input, the FCC will likely decide to unleash a new wave of consolidation—allowing large media corporations to seize more control of local news and stifle diversity on the airwaves. It's first-come, first-serve, so make sure that you arrive early to get a chance to testify.
All five FCC commissioners are expected to be at this event, and so are plenty of big media lobbyists who will be there to argue for more media consolidation.
We need to create the kind of momentum we saw in 2003 when millions of Americans stood together to stop the FCC from handing over local control of the media to massive conglomerates.
Thanks for all you do.
–Noah T. Winer
MoveOn.org Civic Action
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007