As was somewhat expected, the Senate approved a Resolution of Disapproval yesterday which would force the FCC to redo its media ownership rulemaking. I’m with Mediageek on the relative importance of this. More interesting was the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to retain jurisdiction over the spate of suits seeking to reverse the FCC’s decision.
Prometheus and the Media Access Project are duly pleased with the decision, and rightly so – when Mikey Powell waves his hands and says “don’t blame me, blame Congress and the courts for making me do it,” he speaks partial truth. Continue reading “Courts, Congress Move on FCC Media Rules”
Tag: media ownership
BusinessWeek Wants Mikey Powell's Head on a Stick
As he stews in his own political juice, with Congress breathing down his neck, FCC Chairman Mikey Powell can use all the friends he can get. One would assume those friends would include the business/finance community, seeing as how Powell’s a fervent acolyte for their religion.
Think again: BusinessWeek magazine published this piece online yesterday, which is a pretty straightforward indictment of Powell, ending with,
“Powell refused to make a public case for the merits of his proposal. Then, he skewed the data to try to fool people. Plenty of other telecommunications policy experts have the political skills to handle the FCC job less contentiously than Powell. He should leave, before he’s shown the door.” Continue reading “BusinessWeek Wants Mikey Powell's Head on a Stick”
Last-Minute Court Action Halts Media Ownership Rule Changes
Everybody owes a round of thanks and praise to the Prometheus Radio Project, who filed an emergency petition to stop the implementation of the FCC’s media ownership rule changes, which were scheduled to go into effect tomorrow. After a two-hour hearing in Philadelphia today a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the stay, suspending all rule changes until Prometheus’ case gets a proper hearing on its merits.
In a 
three-page decision, after deferring a chance to predict the success of Prometheus’ challenge to the media ownership rules, the court agreed that the challenge deserved full consideration before the rule changes were implemented, especially “given the magnitude of this matter and the public’s interest in reaching the proper resolution.” Continue reading “Last-Minute Court Action Halts Media Ownership Rule Changes”
Free Press Launches TeleLobbying Campaign to Congress
The critters are back on the Hill after an Independence Day vacation and some of the items on the legislative slate are bills that would repeal part or all of the FCC’s media ownership rule changes.
The National Rifle Association mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to flood the FCC with post cards, so Free Press is automating the call-your-congresscritter process, providing everything but the call to make your opinion known on these bills, in three minutes or less.
From Bob McChesney’s call to action: Continue reading “Free Press Launches TeleLobbying Campaign to Congress”
The Deed is Done: FCC Lifts Most Media Ownership Restrictions
It took only 90 minutes for the debate; calling the question took less than 15 seconds. And, as expected, the FCC voted along party lines (3-2) to significantly relax the rules restricting media ownership and consolidation, eliminating several of them completely. The agency’s news releases are full of sickening spin, but it does provide a decent overview of the new rules.
The biggest bonanzas appear to affect television ownership, where caps have been greatly relaxed, and cross-ownership of media outlets in all but a few large markets is now permitted. Mediageek’s Paul Riismandel has posted a more specific analysis of the changes to radio ownership rules.
Clear Channel might be stung by these changes but its freshly-endowed freedom to gobble up television stations and newspapers should more than compensate. The Big Ten must be having a collective orgasm over how much their empires will grow as a result of what happened today. Time to begin paying close attention to business news. Continue reading “The Deed is Done: FCC Lifts Most Media Ownership Restrictions”
Perceptions of Reality on the Eve of Disaster
Three days from now the FCC is expected in a series of 3-2 votes to approve changes to media ownership rules allowing further consolidation. Where radio saw its near-destruction as a useful information source following the Telecom Act’s passage and the consolidation that followed, we have not learned from this mistake, and now much of the same damage will be done to other media outlets.
If you’re inclined to watch the mess as it unfolds, the FCC streams video of its meetings online. I hope to have choice cuts of each Commissioner’s comments available for download in MP3 format later in the day on Monday.
As we stand on the eve of what is likely to be a big step backward in the fight for media democracy, it’s important not to give up hope, especially when the evidence continues to mount that this fight was long rigged in favor of corporate interests. It was heartening to see some evidence this week – from the corporate media itself – that paints a brighter view of the future. Continue reading “Perceptions of Reality on the Eve of Disaster”
NRA Fusillade Felt at FCC; May Amendment One Online
The National Rifle Association’s “urgent bulletin” to its membership on the FCC’s upcoming media ownership rules revision unleashed a flood of petitions and complaints to the agency, at last count topping 100,000 – five or six times the number of public comments filed during the course of the rulemaking itself. The NRA’s bulletin is now online if you’d like to read the full pitch.
Don Schellhardt’s latest installment of Amendment One is also up, adding his voice to the still-growing chorus calling for Congressional involvement to stop Mikey Powell’s grand designs. Continue reading “NRA Fusillade Felt at FCC; May Amendment One Online”
National Rifle Association Mobilizes for Media Democracy?
Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. The NRA has sent out a “Urgent Bulletin” to its members on a “Media Monopoly” in the making:
“…the nation’s most powerful media companies are trying to force the FCC to do away with these rules and pave the way for a tiny handful of corporations to gain total control over the news and information that Americans are allowed to read, see, and hear. If that happens, your NRA would face a disastrous situation where – in a political crisis – a small group of media executives could literally silence your NRA and prevent us from communicating with your fellow Americans by refusing to sell us television, radio, or newspaper advertising at any price.”
In this case, I’ll leave the myth of the liberal media well enough alone, as the NRA’s clout could be handy in the eventual Congressional fight to reform the Telecom Act.
Reportback from Seattle FCC Festivities
“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”
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”