FCC COVER UP
You may have read recently about the FCC's coverup of a report
about the effects on your local news of media concentration
into the hands of a few giant owners. I've written about it
too in an earlier blog. Thanks to Senator Boxer the report has
been revealed to the public. You can now view it on the FCC
website at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267448A1.pdf
.
The FCC Chairman at the time was Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell. In the report he states he "created the Localism Task Force to evaluate how broadcasters are serving their local communities....and the Commission has consistently interpreted this to require broadcast licensees to air programming that is responsive to the interests and needs of their communities."
The report goes on to state, "Our study suggests that locally owned television broadcast stations air more local news than network owned-and-operated and non-locally owned stations..."
The findings openly challenged Powell's assertions that "commonly owned television stations are more likely to carry local news than other stations." This is the same stance the current Chairman Martin is taking.
That's why senior managers at the FCC sent out instructions to destroy "every last piece" of the study.
You can join in the fight. Many advocacy groups have formed http://StopBigMedia.com . On this website you can see who owns the majority of all the TV media in the United States http://www.stopbigmedia.com/chart.php (which is only 22 companies...total!) as well as radio and newspapers. You can also send a letter of protest to the FCC through this website http://www.stopbigmedia.com/coverup.php .
As I said in an earlier blog, your voice does matter, not just as a single individual but as part of the larger group of citizens who do care. Raise your voice and be part of the change that will bring our country back to us!
The FCC Chairman at the time was Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell. In the report he states he "created the Localism Task Force to evaluate how broadcasters are serving their local communities....and the Commission has consistently interpreted this to require broadcast licensees to air programming that is responsive to the interests and needs of their communities."
The report goes on to state, "Our study suggests that locally owned television broadcast stations air more local news than network owned-and-operated and non-locally owned stations..."
The findings openly challenged Powell's assertions that "commonly owned television stations are more likely to carry local news than other stations." This is the same stance the current Chairman Martin is taking.
That's why senior managers at the FCC sent out instructions to destroy "every last piece" of the study.
You can join in the fight. Many advocacy groups have formed http://StopBigMedia.com . On this website you can see who owns the majority of all the TV media in the United States http://www.stopbigmedia.com/chart.php (which is only 22 companies...total!) as well as radio and newspapers. You can also send a letter of protest to the FCC through this website http://www.stopbigmedia.com/coverup.php .
As I said in an earlier blog, your voice does matter, not just as a single individual but as part of the larger group of citizens who do care. Raise your voice and be part of the change that will bring our country back to us!
