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From: Free Press

October 31, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22

Public Urges the FCC to Listen to Broad Outcry against Big Media
Protesters turn out at Halloween rally to stop FCC Chairman's rush toward a new wave of media consolidation

WASHINGTON -- More than 150 citizens crowded the sidewalks outside Federal Communications Commission headquarters in a Halloween-morning rally against media consolidation.

The public event, held before the FCC's Oct. 31 hearing on localism, was joined by elected officials, civil rights and labor leaders, consumer and media reform advocates, activists and even cheerleaders, who all came to urge the federal agency to vote against any rule changes that could result in more consolidation of ownership. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed an expedited timeline for rule changes that could allow a company to own a newspaper and several radio and television stations in a single city.

"We are gravely concerned that Chairman Martin would try to secretly move on such a critical issue with such a short timetable," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, which coordinates the StopBigMedia.com Coalition. "The public is being shut out of the process so that Martin can move forward with his Big Media giveaway."

"Neither we nor the public received any confirmation that the hearing would occur until ... just 5 business days before the event," FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, who spoke at the rally, said in a joint statement about the hearing. "This is unacceptable and unfair to the public."

"Thank you for coming to the hearing that the FCC doesn't want you to attend," Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) told a crowd that spilled over the sidewalks in front of FCC headquarters. "The FCC is in the wrong region to be talking about more media concentration. We're going to stop this rush to consolidate right here in Washington where it began."

"We cannot and we will not let the FCC shove new media ownership rules down our throats. It is our constitutional obligation to stand up and demand that we see greater media ownership diversity, not less," Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) said. "Chairman Martin's efforts to curtail debate and quickly advance a media consolidation proposal raise numerous warning signs that he wants to further shrink an already limited diversity of opinion found among American news outlets. His expected plan is the exact opposite of what is needed in this country."

"We have a media diversity crisis -- too few, own too much, at the expense of too many," said Rev. Jesse Jackson, president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "Stopping media consolidation is the most important way to help minority ownership. But the FCC is trying to fast-track media consolidation instead of creating policies that expand ownership opportunities. The FCC should be serving people, not profit."

"The Teamsters are here today to seek protections for the public interest," said George Tedeschi, vice president at large for the Teamsters. "Our members, like all citizens, depend on the news media for important information and we understand that the FCC is charged with ensuring that diverse and local viewpoints are communicated."

"Despite the fact that together we represent two-thirds of the country, women and people of color are woefully under-represented in media ownership," said Kim Gandy, president of NOW, citing statistics from a Free Press study on diversity and broadcast ownership. "Massive consolidation and market concentration is one of the key factors keeping this vital population from access to the public airwaves."

"God has supplied the airwaves as a gift to all humankind," said Rev. James Coleman, president of the missionary Baptist Ministers Conference of Washington, D.C. He requires of us to be good stewards over the airwaves and ensure that media reflects in a balanced fashion the views, opinions and ethnic values of all segments of society."

"I have watched these hearings be co-opted by broadcasters in the 14 months since the FCC has started this process," said Carrie Biggs-Adams, staff representative at NABET-CWA, who lined up with others outside the FCC at 4 a.m. to be assured an opportunity to testify. "The FCC hasn't listened to the public. They haven't told us when and where these hearings are to occur and they haven't made them accessible so that we can come to voice our opinions."

In the spirit of Halloween, a group of activists including the founders of Prometheus Radio Project dressed up as cheerleaders to "cheer" the FCC for snubbing the public and ignoring their outcry against media consolidation. They cheered:

One million, two million, three million dollars,
All for Clear Channel stand up and holler
M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y,
Monopoly, Monopoly, Monopoly makes us cry

Footage of the rally will be available to members of the press.

For more information on the rally and FCC hearing, visit http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=dc

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Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Learn more at www.freepress.net