Topic: FCC

Restore Fairness, Return to Reality

April 23, 2007 |

Forget Imus. All this fuss will be just so much wasted outrage unless we use it to direct public attention to the big picture: the way the media information cartel has rigged journalism in this country. We need to agitate to break up and re-regulate the media, beginning with restoration of the fairness doctrine.

Ever since the fairness doctrine went down for good in 1986, hate and misinformation have taken over the airwaves, beginning with Rush Limbaugh on the radio and spreading to TV. As Rep. Louise Slaughter said in a 2004 interview with Bill Moyers, after fairness was defeated,

AM radio rose. It wasn’t even gradual, Bill. I mean, almost immediately. And I should point out to you that when we tried to reinstate [the fairness doctrine] again in ‘93, one of the reasons we couldn’t was that Rush Limbaugh had organized this massive uprising against it, calling it “The Hush Rush Law.”

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Verizon, AT&T and the manipulation of public opinion

April 10, 2007 |

Needed: Blacks, Hispanics, disabled, deaf, low-income and the elderly to support the telecoms’ positions on anti-consumer FCC rulings and legislation.

DEFINITIONS:

• Astroturf—An organization set up by a large corporation or corporations to put forward the corporate agenda but to look like an authentic ‘grass-roots’ group.
• Co-opted—An authentic group that is given funding by a large corporation or corporations, where the group lobbies for corporate initiatives even if they are contrary to the needs of its members.
• Skunkworks—A well coordinated campaign funded by large corporations (or industries) that incorporates Astroturf and co-opted groups, research think tanks, PR firms, lobbying firms, state and federal politicians to put forward the corporate agenda on a specific topic.

Over the last few weeks numerous groups have been lobbying and hyping the corporate position of AT&T and Verizon for relaxed cable franchise requirements or to stop any net neutrality legislation. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Business, Issues, Politics | 1 Comment »

Citizens opppose corporate media control

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 12, 2006 |

“Give us back our airways!”

That was the message delivered by the majority of speakers at the Federal Communications Commission’s second public hearing on the impact of media consolidation in Nashville Monday. The event drew a crowd of over 500 people from six states and a panel of celebrities to Belmont University’s Massey Performing Arts Center. The hearing was the second of six to be held across the country.

“If anyone tries to tell you that Big Media’s push for more consolidation has gone away, don’t believe it,” said Commissioner Michael Copps. “They haven’t gone away, and their lawyers and lobbyists haven’t gone away either. So if we are going on to a broader dialogue on the future of media in our democracy, it will be because of citizen action from millions of Americans and testimony at hearings like this one.”

“The law tells us that we are supposed to promote the public interest,” said Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. “And I think you, the public, know best what’s in your interest and not the lobbyists that we hear so much from inside the beltway.” «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Politics | 1 Comment »

FCC Faces Public at Second Official Hearing on Media Consolidation

By Bill Larson | December 8, 2006 |

NASHVILLE — A broad-based coalition of local and national groups is urging the public to turn out for the Federal Communications Commission’s second official hearing on sweeping changes to the nation’s ownership rules.

The FCC public hearing will take place:

Monday, Dec. 11
Hearing Starts at 1 p.m. — Public Testimony until 9 p.m.
Massey Performing Arts Center
Belmont University
1900 Belmont Blvd.
Nashville

At 12 p.m. noon the Newspaper Guild, Communications Workers of America, American Federation of Musicians and other labor groups will hold a press conference at the hearing site at Belmont University.

All five FCC Commissioners are expected to attend the hearing. The event will feature an “open microphone” session for the public to offer testimony on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit www.stopbigmedia.com/=nashville

The following people are available to provide comments on the event: «Read the rest of this article»

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Country legends to testify at FCC hearings in Nashville

By Bill Larson | December 6, 2006 |

George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Naomi Judd to join hundreds of citizens concerned about the costs of media consolidation

NASHVILLE — On Dec. 11 in Nashville, legendary country musicians George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Naomi Judd, Dobie Gray and Craig Wiseman will testify about media consolidation’s impact on musicians at an official Federal Communications Commission hearing. They’ll be joined at the event by dozens of community leaders, several award-winning journalists, and hundreds of concerned citizens from throughout the region who are speaking out in response to the FCC’s plans to change media ownership rules.

“I’m excited that pioneers of music and journalism — winners of Grammy Awards and Pulitzer Prizes — are speaking out about media ownership,” said U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper (D-Nashville), who will also testify at the event. “Preserving a diverse spectrum of media voices is important to Nashville, and it’s essential for a healthy democracy.”

All five FCC Commissioners are expected to attend the hearing, which will feature an “open microphone” session for the public to offer testimony on a first-come, first-served basis. «Read the rest of this article»

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FCC to hold second official public hearing on media ownership issues in Nashville, TN

By Bill Larson | December 5, 2006 |

The FCC has announced that the second official public hearing on media ownership issues will be held in Nashville, Tn.

Date: Monday, Dec. 11, 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Belmont University
    Massey Performing Arts Center
    Massey Concert Hall
    1900 Belmont Blvd
    Nashville, Tenn.
    Belmont Campus Map and Directions

Further details, including the full schedule and panelists, will be posted as they are available.

The hearing will feature two panels with oppportunities for public comment after each. The first panel will focus on issues related to the music recording community. The second panel will focus on local Nashville broadcasting and independent programming. «Read the rest of this article»

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Disney/ABC Trying to Distort History with Partisan Docudrama, The Path to 9/11

By Bill Larson | September 6, 2006 |

Taking a tactic from Goebbels, Disney is distorting history with their version of Goebbels big lie. For those who are not well versed on history, Josef Goebbels was Adolf Hitler’s Propaganda Minister. Goebbels technique argumentum ad nauseam, was a policy of repeating a point until it becomes generally accepted as a truth.

Path to 9/11, a largely fictional account which is being portrayed as a dramatized documentary(docudrama), is nothing more than an lame attempt by one of the largest corporations in the United States to sway public opinion and voters, in favor of a one political party, to the detriment of another, all to influence the outcome of an election. It’s a more ambitious attempt, to do what the so called “Swift boat Veterans for Truth”, and Sinclair Broadcasting, did to John Kerry in 2004.

What’s this all about? «Read the rest of this article»

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