[Davis Democrats] No Vacation for Media Reformers

Fri Aug 4 16:40:29 PDT 2006

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Josh Silver, Executive Director" <list at freepress.net>
Reply-To: <notice-reply-i78niebzljj67mn at ga-mail.action.freepress.net>
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 18:24:05 GMT

Subject: Summer Update: No Vacation for Media Reformers

 <http://www.freepress.net/>

   Today, Congress begins its August recess while legislative debates
continue to heat up that will shape our media for generations. Here's an
update on where things stand. Over the past three months, our
SavetheInternet.com campaign has elevated the crucial issue of Net
Neutrality from obscurity and thrown a wrench in the phone and cable giants'
plan to overhaul our telecommunications laws behind closed doors. While on
its face Net Neutrality - along with most policy issues - are wonky, at the
end of the day they are about getting critical, independent journalism into
living rooms in every state - red and blue. It's about limiting the undue
influence and control of the largest media conglomerates, and creating
vibrant and fearless noncommercial media that provide a real alternative to
commercial media. The unprecedented http://www.SavetheInternet.com
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/l1MaYHE1BPFe/> campaign has brought together
more than 750 groups from across the political spectrum. More than a million
of you signed petitions and flooded Congress with calls and letters. Tens of
thousands of bloggers and MySpace users have linked to SavetheInternet.com -
many of them posting free ads to counteract the multi-million-dollar
misinformation campaign launched by astroturf (fake grassroots) groups like
Hands Off the Internet. Creative people have submitted their own videos and
songs about Net Neutrality -- and no corporation paid them to do it.
(http://www.savetheinternet.com/=videos
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/0pMaYHE1BPFf/> ) A bad telecom bill passed
the House in June. But the Senate is split over Net Neutrality - as seen in
the 11-11 tie vote in the Senate committee that oversees the Internet. The
phone and cable lobbyists don't yet have the votes to move their bill
forward - and chatter in Washington says it may not be voted on until after
the November elections. If we can keep the pressure up, it is believed that
Net Neutrality could derail the entire bill and force Congress to start from
scratch from next year. As always, we'll be tracking this and asking for
your help. On our other fronts... Media Ownership You couldn't paint a
clearer picture of how media policy gets made in Washington than this photo
from Details magazine of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin literally in bed with
industry lobbyists.
 Chairman Martin: Why not get in bed with the public?

Such slumber parties might explain why Martin recently launched his latest
attempt to remove the last remaining media ownership limits. Acting under
pressure from powerful media corporations, Martin seems determined to let
one company swallow up three TV channels, eight radio stations and the daily
newspaper all in the same town.

Martin's indifferent to the impact such changes would have on localism and
diversity - not to mention the fact that 95 percent of public comments
received by the FCC oppose weakening the rules.

The current timeline puts any actual vote at the FCC after the November
election. Before then, Martin has pledged to hold "a half dozen" public
hearings - but he hasn't yet scheduled a single one.

However, Free Press and our allies continue to organize a series of Town
Meetings on the Future of Media. And along with staunch opponents of media
consolidation such as FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan
Adelstein, we're gearing up for a fight this fall that will require all
hands on deck. Check out http://www.StopBigMedia.com
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/ldMaYHE1BPFd/> for the latest updates.

Public Broadcasting and Noncommercial Media

You probably remember Ken Tomlinson's crusade to counter "liberal advocacy
journalism" at PBS and NPR. Public pressure forced him to resign as chairman
of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) amid charges that he
misused power and injected his personal politics into the agency. But the
partisan attack on public broadcasting continues.

Last month, President Bush nominated Warren Bell to the CPB board. He's a
television sitcom producer who has described himself as "thoroughly
conservative in ways that strike horror into the hearts of my Hollywood
colleagues." Brazen partisanship - on either side of the aisle - has no
place in the governance of public broadcasting. In fact, the CPB was
established specifically to provide a firewall from political interference.
We will challenge the confirmation of any brazen partisans nominated to the
board. 

Meanwhile, the House recently voted for a 23 percent cut in funding for the
CPB. The Senate approved full funding, but the two bills will be reconciled
in December behind closed doors. We will need to raise the volume and ensure
that public broadcasting is protected. At the same time, we are working
toward long-term reform that gets public broadcasting away from running the
annual funding gauntlet.

The Big Picture 

That's where things are in a nutshell. Together we have managed to stop
nearly every major threat from Big Media during the last three years.
Together, we can not only stop the next attack, but advance a vision: more
investigative, critical journalism; smarter entertainment, less
commercialism - a media system that supports and nourishes democracy, rather
than one that undermines it.

Thanks so much for being part of Free Press and the movement for media
reform. 

All the best,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net

P.S. Here are some links for more information, and a few laughs:

-- Check out all the amazing SavetheInternet.com videos - and find links to
The Daily Show's hilarious take on the topic -- at
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=videos
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/0pMaYHE1BPFf/>

-- Read this article about the state of the telecom bill in Congress
http://www.freepress.net/news/16856
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/0dMaYHE1BPF4/>

-- You can find information on the upcoming Town Meetings on the Future of
Media here: http://www.freepress.net/future/
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/lpMaYHE1BPFB/>

-- Read about the letter on media ownership to Chairman Martin from 84
members of Congress here: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/blog/
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/p1MaYHE1BPFv/>

-- See the full story on the nomination of partisan operative Warren Bell to
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting here:
http://www.freepress.net/news/16512
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/01MaYHE1BPFX/>

-- You can keep up on the latest news on media issues and activism by
signing up for Media Reform Daily here:
http://www.freepress.net/news/subscribe.php
<http://action.freepress.net/ct/07MaYHE1BPFr/>

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