Dear MoveOn member,
If you're concerned about a few big companies controlling our country's
access to news, information, and entertainment, we need your help now.
Later this week or early next week, the Senate will likely take up its
last major vote on media reform, and it'll be very close. After a
grassroots groundswell tipped the balance toward rolling back the FCC
rule change that would allow greater media concentration, lobbyists
from big media conglomerates have been working around the clock to tip
it back.
On Wednesday, MoveOn.org will be holding a crucial press conference
with Senator Dorgan (D-ND) and Senator Snowe (R-ME) and groups across
the political spectrum to highlight the broad opposition to the FCC
rule change. We need to show that over 100,000 people have voiced
their demand that the Senate vote to roll back the rule change.
Please help us reach 100,000 signers by this Wednesday -- you can
sign below at:
http://moveon.org/stopthefcc/Last spring, MoveOn members joined with members of groups from Common
Cause and NOW to the NRA to voice our opposition to an FCC rule change
that would alter the dynamics of the American news media. The rule
change proposed to tear down old boundaries that controlled how much
of the media in a given community (and in the entire country) could be
owned by one company.
After over 2 million Americans wrote the FCC to oppose the change, the
FCC chairman, Michael Powell, pushed through the rule change anyway,
in a 3-2 party line vote. But Congress was watching, and when we
asked Congress to roll back the rule change, Senators and
Representatives on both sides of the aisle took up the call.
In July, the House struck down one piece of the rule change by a
400-to-21 vote. It was a big win, and media companies were shocked.
As big contributors to both political parties, media conglomerates had
assumed that their bottom line would be Congress' first priority.
"Never before have I seen an FCC chairman's decision repudiated by the
House of Representatives so quickly and so emphatically," said Rep.
Edward J. Markey (D-MA).
So, in August, the media companies fought back. They launched a
multi-million dollar lobbying campaign, using distorted polls and
misleading advertising to twist the arms of members of the Senate.
Now, in the next week, the final vote on rolling back the FCC rule
change will come to the Senate floor. We can beat this thing, but
we'll need every last person to do so. Please sign the "Stop the FCC"
petition right now, and ask your friends and family to sign as well.
You can sign now at:
http://moveon.org/stopthefccTogether, we can make sure that America's media is diverse,
competitive, and balanced.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn Team
September 8th, 2003
P.S. Here's a great fact sheet on the current situation, from the
Consumer Federation of America. To learn more about media
deregulation, you can also check out
http://www.mediareform.net/MEDIA OWNERSHIP FACT SHEET
Major FCC Rules under consideration:
1) National Broadcast Cap: Limits percentage of the national
audience that one network may reach to 35%. New rules lift percentage
to 45%.
2) Cross Ownership Rule: Bans mergers between newspapers, radio
stations, and local television broadcasters. New rule would lift the
ban in over 80% of markets.
3) Duopoly/Triopoly Rule: Prevents one company from owning more
than one major television station in most markets. The new rule would
allow one company to own three stations in about 20 markets and one
company to own two TV stations in an additional 100 markets.
* If the FCC's rule stands, one news entity could control more than
half of a local news market, and more than two thirds of the reporters
in that same market.
* The number of independent owners of media outlets has declined in
the last 25 years. Since 1975, two thirds of independent newspaper
owners have disappeared (from 860 to 290). Since 1975 one third of
independent TV owners have disappeared (540 to 360). The FCC's order
sets the stage for a further reduction in independent media ownership.
* Most Americans -- 80 percent -- still get their news from local TV and
newspapers. Allowing consolidation between those main sources of local
news on the premise that the Internet and cable television have become
the primary source of local information is not market reality.
* The US Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit last week blocked the FCC media
ownership rule changes, citing adequate evidence that the petitioners
may have a legitimate legal case. The rules were stayed from the
scheduled September 4th implementation because of the irreversible
damage they might cause before a rollback could be enacted.
* According to the FCC, over 2.3 million Americans have voiced their
opposition to the new rules.
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