GOOD NEWS: The Senate takes a stand against BIG media

Submitted by mauro on May 16, 2008 - 9:03am.
in

Just moments ago, by a near-unanimous vote, the Senate stood up to Big
Media. They voted to throw out the FCC decision to let the largest
media companies swallow up even more local media.

This is simply an astounding victory, and it would not have happened
without the massive grassroots effort by you and thousands of others who called their senators, sent more than a quarter million letters,
posted thousands of pictures and stories on StopBigMedia.com, and testified at public hearings held by the FCC.

It was your dedication that made today's Senate win possible.

Today was a huge step forward, but there is still much to do. The fight against the FCC now moves to the House, where our elected representatives need to hear from us.

President Bush has promised that he will try to veto this bill. But tonight the Senate and the American people have spoken with one voice.
This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House.

We are in this struggle to bring more minority ownership, diverse perspectives and independent voices to the media. We need to make media consolidation an election-year issue. And we need to start talking about how to break up the giant conglomerates.

Corporate news today -- with its propaganda pundits, horse-race election coverage, and celebrity gossip -- undermines our democracy. We must continue to speak out and demand that the public airwaves be used to actually serve the public.

In just three weeks, thousands of people will be gathering together in Minnesota to build the movement for better media. You can join them at the National Conference for Media Reform, just visit www.freepress.net/conference.
FreePress

For today, know that you played a key role in the fight for better
media for all.

Thank you,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press Action Fund

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Historic Senate Vote Rejects FCC's Rules

Submitted by mauro on May 16, 2008 - 9:20am.

May 15, 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jen Howard, Free Press, (703) 517-6273

Historic Senate Vote Rejects FCC's Rules

'Resolution of disapproval' passes Senate in a major victory; all
eyes on the House

WASHINGTON -- In a near-unanimous voice vote tonight, the Senate passed
a "resolution of disapproval" that would nullify the Federal
Communications Commission's latest attempt to dismantle longstanding
media ownership limits.

Last December, the FCC voted to remove the "newspaper/broadcast
cross-ownership" ban that prohibits one company from owning a broadcast
station and the major daily newspaper in the same market. The resolution
of disapproval (Senate Joint Resolution 28), introduced by Sen. Byron
Dorgan (D-N.D.), would nullify the FCC's new rules if passed by Congress
and signed by the president. The House version of the resolution was
introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) in
March.

Today, the Bush administration issued a statement opposing the
resolution and threatening to veto it. The statement called the FCC's
new rules the product of "extensive public comment and consultation" but
failed to mention that only 1 percent of public comments supported the
administration's position.

Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, which coordinates the
StopBigMedia.com Coalition, made the following statement:

"Today's historic Senate vote is a resounding victory for the vast
majority of Americans who oppose media consolidation. We applaud the
bipartisan leadership of Senators Dorgan and Snowe for acting in the
public interest. But to stop Big Media from polluting our local airwaves
with more junk journalism and propaganda, we need the House to move this
legislation forward quickly.

"At this watershed moment, public outrage against Big Media has reached
a breaking point. The Bush administration's threats to undercut this
bipartisan effort in Congress show how out of touch this president is
with the will of the American people. But we're not going to stand idly
by and let the White House green light Big Media's expansion. The great
pendulum of political change is swinging away from corrosive
consolidation and toward better media."

Read the FCC's cross-ownership order:
link

Learn more about the FCC's new rules:
pdf link

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