Brief Background
The landscape of our media system is shaped by the
policies crafted by our legislators and the regulations (or
"deregulations") determined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC [1]).
The FCC is currently in the process of rewriting those rules that
govern our media landscape, after being forced
back to the drawing board by the Philadelphia-based
U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003, in an action brought by
coalition member Prometheus Radio Project of Philadelphia.
Facing the threat of further deregulation in ownership policies,
the MDC supports the preservation, or preferably
the limitation, of existing ownership caps.
On June 21, 2006, the FCC announced their Further Notice of Proposed Rule-making on the Media Ownership proceeding. The public would now be able to file comments with the FCC on how they think the FCC should proceed with writing the new media ownership rules regarding Broadcast ownership and Newspaper-TV cross-ownership. The public will be able to file comments until the FCC hands down their decision on new rules.
Media Ownership Hearings
At an open
meeting of the FCC in August, Chairman Kevin Martin committed the
FCC to holding six official FCC Hearings around the country on the
Media Ownership Proceeding. These public hearings and forums present
the best opportunity for the public to testify to their experiences
and voice their opinions in the presence of all four FCC Commissioners
and Chairman Martin. Two official hearings have been held thus far (in
Los Angeles and Nashville), and we expect four more hearings before the
rules are handed down.
Scheduled Hearings
September 20, 2007: Official FCC Hearing in Chicago, IL. Check back for further details.
Previous Hearings
June 28, 2007: FCC Localism Hearing in Portland, ME
FCC HEARING DRAWS CRITICISM OF LOCAL NEWS PROGRAMMING [2]
December 11, 2006: Official FCC Hearing in Nashville, TN
[3]Country Stars Appeal to FCC [4]
November 30, 2006: Public Hearing in Seattle, WA
Hosts of Public Hearing Don't Want FCC To Relax Media-ownership Rules [5]
November 21, 2006: Public Hearing in Hudson Valley, NY
Local news in jeopardy, panel warns FCC Chief [6]
October 27, 2006: Public Hearing in Oakland, CA
Oakland Speaks Out [7]
October 19, 2006: Public Hearing in New York City, NY
New York City Speaks Out [8]
FCC Chairman Hears Overwhelming Opposition to Media Consolidation [9]
Listen to Panel Highlights & Testimony [10]