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from: Free Press

Public to Rally for Better Media Outside FCC Headquarters

From Free Press, October 29, 2007

Local citizens concerned about media consolidation will rally outside of Federal Communications Commission headquarters during the agency’s hearing on localism on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The hearing was announced just five business days prior to the event and follows reports that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is rushing to eliminate longstanding media ownership limits before the end of the year.

From: Free Press

FCC Tricks the Public to Treat Big Media

Is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin trying to trick the people of Washington, D.C.?

Late last night, the chairman announced a "public" hearing at FCC headquarters on Oct. 31 on how consolidation impacts local media. He gave the public just a few days' notice, hoping they won't find out or show up.

Will you be there?

Note: The FCC is also expected to issue an order on video franchising for cable companies (giving them the same provisions the FCC gave the Telcos last year). This is a good day to come to Washington.

Halloween Hijinks at the FCC in DC: Tell Them No to Media Consolidation!

Greetings from the Prometheus Radio Project! Please read this note, and forward widely!

Do the letters F-C-C bring out the monster mogul andcorporate ghoul in you? Does FCC Chairman Kevin Martin have a sick sense of humor, or is he just plain scary?

from: Free Press

FCC Hearing Shuts Out the Public

“How can you have a hearing on localism without giving the local community time to find out it is happening? Chairman Martin’s actions suggest that he’s never been serious about paying attention to the public.” — Josh Silver, Free Press.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Obama Calls On Martin to Slow Down on Ownership Review
Presidential Candidate: ‘Both the Proposed Timeline and the Process Irresponsible’

By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable, 10/22/2007 3:29:00 PM

Presidential candidate and Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama wants Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin to take a series of intermediary steps before making the leap to rewrite media-ownership rules, saying that not to do so would be irresponsible.

from: Broadcasting & Cable

Organizations Claim Agency’s Data Collection Is ‘Woefully Substandard’

By John Eggerton
10/22/2007

The FCC is getting an earful on its media ownership studies and ownership rules in general.

A group of women's and minority organizations told the FCC Monday that its recently released media ownership studies failed to target and provide solutions for promoting women's ownership of the media, but that the results they did produce showed that women are underrepresented and that the FCC's data collection is "woefully substandard."

from: NY Times

Plan Would Ease Limits on Media Owners

By STEPHEN LABATON
October 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.

from: Washington Post

The FCC and Media Ownership Rulemaking

From Associated Press, January 25, 2007

— A look at how the Federal Communications Commission has dealt with writing new rules for ownership of broadcast stations:

_ June 2, 2003: The commission votes 3-2 to ease broadcast ownership rules. The three Republicans, including Kevin Martin, are in favor. The two Democrats, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, are opposed.

from: Associated Press

Spiked Study Leads to New FCC Query

From Associated Press, January 26, 2007
By John Dunbar

When the government decided to take a hard look at how well broadcasters were serving their communities, two economists at the Federal Communications Commission got a research idea: They would look at whether locally owned TV stations produced more local news than stations owned by companies based outside the area.

from: Technology Daily

Democratic Gains Alter Media Ownership Debate

By David Hatch

(Tuesday, January 16) For television, radio and newspaper outlets seeking regulatory relief from the FCC, the timing of the agency's comprehensive review of ownership limits could not be worse.