FCC Commissioners Attend Media-Ownership Meeting in Ohio

[babylonsister]

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=112570

FCC Commissioners Attend Media-Ownership Meeting in Ohio

By The Associated Press

(Broadcasting & Cable) _ Free Press estimates that about 400 people filled the Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio for a town meeting on media ownership that featured the first FCC majority--three out of the five commissioners-- to attend one of the unofficial gatherings.

The FCC is reviewing its media ownership rules with an eye toward loosening some of them. Three of five commissioners were in attendance, Democrats Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps and Republican Robert McDowell.

Adelstein and Copps are regular attendants of the meetings, but it was McDowell's first appearance. McDowell was the first Republican to attend any the Free Press hearings--of which there has been over a dozen.

McDowell has shown himself to be an independent voice who has not promised his vote to the Republican majority. He earned plaudits from the anti-consolidation crowd for his decision not to vote on the Bell South/AT&T merger http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6401093.html?display=Search+Results&text=McDowell.

According to a Free Press account, McDowell said the media ownership debate concerns "the vitality of American Democracy." He added that he was "eager to hear from the public on the impact of media policy decisions."

The commissioners heard testimony from more than 100 people.

The informal forum followed an official FCC public meeting in Harrisburg, Pa http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6419183.html?display=Search+Results&text=Harrisburg., where well over a hundred people voiced their opinions causing the meeting to exceed the official scheduled time.

[KharmaTrain]

1. Time To Demand Revisitng DeReg '96!!!

Here's hoping this "loosening" of rules means that Fox can officiall "double-up" on television stations its already purchased by have third parties (mostly shell companies) holding the license while Fox and other major companies flaunt the rules by programming and making profits from those properties. This "revision" was attempted a couple years ago and was stopped...and hopefully it will be again.

Then...it's time for the long promised revision of DeReg '96...which was supposed to have been done in 2002 and the Repugnican congress ignored as their campaign coffers and pandering to the large broadcast corrporates (who gave the Repugnicans a free ride in their news coverage). It's time to once again limit the number of broadcast properties a company can own, review the cable franchise arangements that have sold your dial out to the highest bidder (with you paying the freight...including to Faux Noise) and all but destroyed local broadcasting.

Broadcasting is in shit shape right now. Competition and their own largess to change has sent revenues in the dumper while debts pile up. The only way the large corporations can hold off further financial erosion is either to get further "deregulation" that they can parlay into jump starting stagnant stock prices and re-finance their debts or they'll be forced to divest properties (like what Clear Channel is in the process of doing).

Here's hoping this commission isn't totally bought and owned by the large broadcast entities.