Bill of Citizens' Media Rights

[paineinthearse]

Bill of Citizens' Media Rights -- Please Review and Sign

Please have your organization review and sign the new Bill of Citizens’ Media Rights, which is being signed on to by organizations representing millions of Americans, literally, including Common Cause, Consumers Union, Dept. of Professional Employees/AFL-CIO, Center for Creative Voices in Media, and many others. In concise, non-wonky language, the Bill spells out the First Amendment right of all American citizens to a competitive, diverse, and independent media, and provides a positive vision for a new media environment and structure that better serves our nation’s democracy and culture. This year corporate media plans to step up efforts to further consolidate their control of American media. Well-paid lobbyists are ready to push their agenda as Congress plans to reopen the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The '96 Act paved the way for unprecedented corporate media consolidation giving rise to media giants such as Clear Channel Communications and Sinclair Broadcasting Group.
In 2005 we cannot allow for more of the same. The new Telecom Act has the power to shape our entire media system for decades to come. Unless we pull together and act now on behalf of citizen's media rights the very future of our democracy is at risk.

Any organization's efforts to repair our nation must rank media reform as a priority. That’s why organizations representing millions of Americans have put forward the Bill of Citizens' Media Rights. The Bill is a milestone in the media reform movement that presents a positive and unified vision for a competitive, diverse, and independent media to better serve our nation's democracy and culture, today and tomorrow.

Over the past two years, millions of citizens have demonstrated their willingness to join together and organize behind efforts to build a better, more diverse and democratic American media. This effort now needs the organizing and outreach muscle provided by groups such as yours. Please join this national effort by pledging your support to the Bill.

Read and Sign the Bill of Citizens' Media Rights here.
http://www.citizensmediarights.org/

By signing onto the "Bill of Citizens' Media Rights," organizations are joining the multitude of individuals and organizations that believe a free and vibrant media, full of diverse and competing voices, is the lifeblood of America's democracy and culture, as well as an engine of growth for its economy.

Signing this Bill is just the beginning. After several organizations take the pledge we will ask them to reach out to their constituents to sign a petition in support of the Bill. Our goal is to enlist millions of Americans behind the Bill. And, when the time comes to fight industry lobbyists at the local, state and federal levels, we will have sufficient popular support to force legislators to listen to our side of the story.

Media reform will only happen if we organize across party lines and communities and commit to building a system that will serve our nation for generations to come. The time to act is now.

Thank you for taking part in this movement.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Jonathan Rintels
Center for Creative Voices in Media
www.creativevoices.us
www.creativevoices.typepad.com (blog)

Center for Creative Voices in Media
1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 100-494
Washington, DC 20005

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[Nothing Without Hope]

1. This is a very good thing. Is there also organizing re INTERNET freedom?

We need to be alert about protecting freedom of communication and information exchange on the internet. I believe that the corporate media and the administration have begun to catch on that -- with the fund raising and what we did to get info to Conyers and support to Boxer -- internet activism is a potential future threat to their dominance. These are not a forgiving bunch of people, so I consider it inevitable that steps are going to be taken to suppress progressivism on the internet. We need watchdogs and lawyers to detect incipient anti-internet freedom actions and help protect against them.

Are you aware of any actions along these lines? I feel sure we are going to be entering a fight about this, the more so if we can continue to grow and become more visible to the rest of the country. We were safe as a largely invisible fringe group, but that is changing.

And thanks for this post and everything it implies.