“Strategically optimistic” is the way Jonathan Lawson, an organizer with Reclaim the Media, feels coming out of Friday’s FCC media ownership field hearing with Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. The two certainly got an earful.
Reclaim the Media, along with many other groups, spent a lot of time and energy making the field hearing happen. Because it was not officially sanctioned by Chairman Michael Powell, the FCC wouldn’t release funds for the two Commissioners to travel. Copps paid his own way, presumably out of his own (limited) office expense funds; Reclaim the Media paid the freight for Adelstein.
Having originally scheduled only 30 minutes of time for public comment at the hearing, the Commissioners pledged not to cut off anyone who wanted to speak. They listened to more than three hours of public comment as a result. Not only that, but corporate media executives in the onstage discussion panels were openly jeered. Lawson says the overall sentiment was “overwhelmingly, if not totally opposed” to further relaxation of media ownership rules. Continue reading “Reportback from Seattle FCC Festivities”
When News and Promotions Collide
Pulled up on a Google News search recently for the term “President Bush.” From the looks of it, this TV station has its place in the march to war rhythm section down cold:
FCC Dog and Pony Show Moves to Seattle
Tomorrow, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will go through the motions of another “public hearing” on the agency’s media ownership rules review. This one will happen in Seattle on the campus of the University of Washington.
Sounds like it’ll be the same old song-and-dance the folks at the Richmond hearing got last week, except this time the public only gets 30 minutes to speak. That’s because in Richmond the FCC held a six-hour forum; Seattle’s show only runs from 9am to 12:30pm. The last 30 minutes belong to the people.
The strong community of media democracy activists in Seattle are preparing quite a few festivities to go with the official frivolity. The coolest of the bunch will take place tomorrow night, during an “action for media democracy” which will feature Chuck D & the Fine Arts Militia sharing the stage with Commissioner Adelstein. Quite the spectacle for all involved; I hope someone records it. Continue reading “FCC Dog and Pony Show Moves to Seattle”
Election Update
Alas, neither his rhetorical savvy nor the last-minute endorsement of DIYmedia was enough to help Kelly Benjamin claim victory in his candidacy for a seat on the Tampa City Council. Kelly did, however, garner 13,955 votes, just a little shy of one-third of all ballots cast.
It might be a statistical defeat, but not too shabby considering Kelly was outspent by an approximate 30-to-1 margin (or more), and citywide voter turnout was an abysmal 33%.
Next try, the White House?
Last-minute Props and Good Luck to Microbroadcaster-turned-candidate
Kelly “Kombat” Benjamin, founder of the “original” 87X pirate radio station in Tampa, Florida, is running for a seat on the Tampa City Council. The election is tomorrow.
Benjamin, along with Doug Brewer and Lonnie Kobres, fell victim to the law on November 19, 1997, when agents from the FCC and Federal Marshals executed three coordinated SWAT-style raids on microradio stations in Florida. Continue reading “Last-minute Props and Good Luck to Microbroadcaster-turned-candidate”
White House Spokesman Laughed Out of White House Press Room
This is just too good: if you visit CSPAN.org right now, and check out the center column marked “most watched video,” you can see that Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer’s Feb. 25 press briefing sits at the top of the list. The reason is due to the last three minutes of the half-hour video.
It involves a spate of tough questions which end in Fleischer’s rhetorical de-pantsing. As expected, the questions come from representatives of the “foreign media.” Continue reading “White House Spokesman Laughed Out of White House Press Room”
FCC Gives Public A Last-Minute Listen? Don't Believe the Hype
It’s enough to make you puke: the FCC has released its agenda for the one and only “official public hearing” it will hold on its pending revisions to media ownership rules. Check it out in text (page 1, page 2) or .PDF (page 1, page 2) format.
After the corporate media belatedly began covering the issue (publishing its first stories on the weekend after the written public comment period officially closed), and after an outburst of concern from Congress over the FCC’s foregone conclusions (bigger media is better), FCC Chairman Michael Powell responded like the savvy politician he is. In a symbolic display of civic engagement he agreed to convene the Commission for one “public hearing” in Richmond, Virginia – a whopping 100 miles from Washington, D.C. Continue reading “FCC Gives Public A Last-Minute Listen? Don't Believe the Hype”
Free Radio Networks Against War
Last weekend’s global anti-war protests were streamed live by various Independent Media Centers around the world, and voices for peace bypassed corporate media filters to give reports straight from the streets.
Many pirates picked up the various IMC feeds and rebroadcast them to their communities: the impromptu network had affiliates the U.S., U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, to name those we know of. All of the rebroadcasts took place on the FM dial. Could’ve been bigger – maybe next time.
Miscellaneous site news: a third gallery of media collage is now online. This one features works that use adverts as ammo and poke the eyes of consumer culture.
Clear Channel Watch: Ramping Up D.C. Presence, Pressure
This should come as little surprise after Clear Channel Chairman/CEO Lowry Mays’ recent ceremonial grilling in front of a Senate panel.
Clear Channel’s D.C. lobbying arm grows from one to three as chief corporate glad-hander Andrew Levin entices two more away from the Hill. The expansion buys Clear Channel valuable access to key members of Congress, which should help smooth over the company’s image problems and increase the company’s influence on media lawmaking.
Robert Fisher comes straight from Arizona Senator John McCain’s backyard, having worked on McCain’s most recent re-election campaign in 1998. That earned him a place on McCain’s D.C. staff as the Senator’s media issues adviser. With Clear Channel’s purchase of Fisher, the company has all but installed a direct hotline to McCain’s ear on telecommunications policymaking. It’s almost as good as buying McCain himself. Continue reading “Clear Channel Watch: Ramping Up D.C. Presence, Pressure”
Microbroadcaster Gets 4 Months Home Detention
Benjamin Leroy Carter once ran a station in Orlando, Florida. After “complaints from residents and broadcasters…of interference to the reception of licensed radio broadcast stations,” the FCC swooped in. The good news is it took nearly four years for the agency to follow through.
The actual sentence – after pleading guilty to seven counts of unlicensed broadcasting – was 18 months’ probation (of which four are home detention) and 50 hours of community service. Sounds like the FCC didn’t think they’d be able to squeeze dough out of Carter, who becomes (to our knowledge) the second microbroadcaster to be criminally convicted and sentenced for broadcasting without a license.