By the way, media is a little safer...for now

Last November, the FCC blazed through Seattle, among a handful other cities, to steam drive new ownership rules for media corporations. Specifically, that media conglomerates will be allowed to own tv stations and newspapers in the same market, something they were not allowed to do previously. For over thirty years, the FCC has prohibited newspaper owners from holding licenses to operate television and radio stations in the communities where their newspapers are published. This restriction is known as the cross-ownership rule. [previous post]

"[Kevin]Martin (FCC Chairman) decided on a list of six cities where the FCC would hold public forums to get feedback on scaling back these regulations; Seattle isn’t one of them.

In response, local non-profit group Reclaim the Media invited the five FCC directors to come out for an informal public hearing. Only Adelstein and Copps agreed to attend.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has announced plans to hold the final public hearing on media ownership on Friday, Nov. 9 at Seattle's Town Hall, giving the Northwest an unbelievable five business days to prepare for the hearing. The rushed hearing is part of Martin's plan to fast-track changes to the rules by mid-December. The hearing will be the only chance for Northwest residents to weigh in on proposals that would allow giant media companies to grow even more concentrated."

I jumped on the opportunity to go to the hearing and it became abundantly clear that Seattle's citizens, media makers/consumers, and legislators, hate and disdain the idea of letting ownership regulations become loose, allowing for conglomerates to singularly own and control more and more, the sources of information that we consume. Hearing people yell "Fascist!" and "Fuck you Martin!" was music to my ears. This new regulation was to coincide with the recent buyout of the Wall Street Journal by News Corporation, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who's News Corp. also owns FOX, Myspace.com, The New York Post, and on and on.
(You can view a full list of what News Corp owns, along with the other Big 6 media conglomerates holdings, at Freepress.net, which has a convenient interactive chart.) The new loosened regulation would allow the Wall Street Journal buyout become legal.

It's important to note that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, is a tool of the current administration, a fact that is openly known and discernible, even on the official FCC website's bio of Kevin Martin.

"Chairman Martin was nominated by President George W. Bush to a Republican seat on the Commission, and was sworn in on July 3, 2001. He was designated chairman by President Bush on March 18, 2005. Chairman Martin was re-nominated for a second term as commissioner and chairman by President George W. Bush on April 25, 2006."

That being said, the new regulation passed with a vote of 3-2, the Republican FCC commissioners holding 3 of the 5 seats. This occurred December of 2007, to the depressed sighs of many educated media consumers. You can read about Martin's defense over his decision via ABC, but it's very much like listening to any W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice speech; full of generic open ended responses that have no bearing on reality. Afterwards, read FreePress.net's Devil in the Details, a report exposing 10 key facts that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is hiding from the public about his recent proposal to lift the longstanding ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership."

Luckily for us Washington-ians, we are blessed to have legislatures on both sides of the aisle, that are on the front lines of protecting media diversity. House Rep. Jay Inslee has been spear heading the reversal of the new regulations, alongside co-sponsor Rep. Dave Reichert (He'll stomp out media deregulation like he did the Green River killer! Sorry..). A similar resolution has been introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, with 17 co-sponsors including our own Sen. Maria Cantwell, as well as Democratic Presidential nominees, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Thankfully, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, because the resolution passed. "The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved a rare "resolution of disapproval" to invalidate the FCC's new rules, as concerns about media consolidation escalated in the wake of News Corp.'s negotiations to buy a second New York newspaper." [LA Times]

Sen. Barack Obama had some words about this victory for the public:
"Today the Senate stood up to Washington special interests by voting to reverse the FCC's disappointing media consolidation rules that I have fought against. Our nation's media market must reflect the diverse voices of our population, and it is essential that the FCC promotes the public interest and diversity in ownership."

All of this happened not because our legislators know what's best for us, but because over 250,000 letters were written by regular folks to the Senate and the FCC, demanding that this regulation be unchanged. A BIG victory for democracy, free speech, and the common folk. Very exciting stuff.

If you would like to get more acquainted with media going-ons, there are many media watchdog groups that are vigilant in trying to keep media going strong for citizens, not consumers.
Freepress.net
Mediamatters.org
Reclaimthemedia.org