Sen. Obama locks horns with the FCC and speaks up for diversity in media

[FrenchieCat]

Obama, Bush at Odds Over Media-Ownership Vote

Democratic Presidential Candidate Urges House of Representatives to Follow Senate's Lead,
Scrap FCC's Media-Ownership-Rule Change

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Thursday urged the House to follow the Senate's lead and pass a resolution of disapproval, an unusual legislative maneuver that would invalidate the FCC's decision to allow TV and radio stations and newspapers to be co-owned in the top 20 markets, subject to some conditions.

After the Senate approved the measure, Obama, a co-sponsor of the bill, released a statement saying, "I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to expeditiously pass the legislation."

He framed the vote, as he has before, as standing up to "Washington special interests," a campaign theme. "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," he said.

More.....

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6561535.html

Obama Stands Up to Bush, the FCC, and Big Media

Posted by Matt Stoller, Open Left at 9:58 AM on May 16, 2008.

Sen. Obama locks horns with the FCC and speaks up for diversity in media.

The FCC decision to consolidate yet more media was opposed by 99% of public comments. As Paul Rosenberg noted in this comments, this might be the single least popular decision by the Bush administration ever. But Obama, as he did with his media and tech plan, took this further, and called for diversity and representation for the public interest in media ownership.

With ownership levels for minorities and women in media in the low single digits, Obama is really saying that it's time to reshape our media system.

With the Pentagon Pundit scandal coming on the wave of a number of serious breakdowns of the public legitimacy of the press, the public desire for a new media system is strong. The technological capacity to create such a system exists, in fact, media has been dramatically reshaped already through the internet. Broadcast media, though, is still somewhat untouched, but this kind of serious structural argument about the media from the likely President is something that cable and broadcast executives, as well as progressives, should take very seriously.

I've heard quite frequently from political operatives that this race is not Obama versus McCain, but Obama versus the media. And it's clear that without breaking down the structure of the media conglomerates, public discourse will remain as polluted and dishonest as it is now. And so President Obama is telegraphing his intentions to be a media reformer. Now it's up to us to help him get there.

More.....
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/85608/#more

[Liberty Belle]

1. Kicking & recommending. Finally, a candidate speaks out against big media!

Obama is truly showing leadership qualities these days.

[snot]

2. pls help k & r this to the write your rep stage

[Brundle_Fly]

3. reco and kicko

because american needs to take the media back.

[fasttense]

4. Consolidation of yet more media outlets is code for regional monopolies.

Not only does this drown out all the other voices in media, and allows rich repukes to monopolize the market, it makes for very, very, boring newspapers and television.

In the name of all that is interesting and worth watching, stop all these stupid monopolies so that there is something interesting remaining in newspapers and television. We the mass bored demand it.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. He has a naturaly ally in the House. One who has been speaking about this for a while

He's spoken in depth about it, as here, and in shorter sound bites on the cable and broadcast outlets.

In fact, he had this as a campaign plank back when he was running. But he got largely ignored cuz he's funny looking and is no media darling. (Just smart and right on most issues.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6tLtjxJ9NU