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Media Workers Demand FCC Hold Hearings on Ownership Rules
In the wake of a court decision ordering the FCC to revisit its media ownership rules, CWA and fellow unions representing half a million media workers are calling for public hearings so that citizens - this time around - can fully air their concerns.
Armed with results of a poll of 400 print and broadcast professionals, the unions and allies on Capitol Hill say media consolidation is increasingly and negatively affecting the quality and diversity of news reporting and access to information.
"Media workers, better than anyone else, understand the dire implications that further consolidation will have on their work and the public's ability to access quality information. The results of this poll point up the need for more outreach by the FCC before the commissioners allow more contraction in the industry," The Newspaper Guild-CWA President Linda Foley said at a July 20 news conference on Capitol Hill.
NABET-CWA President John Clark said, "Our task now is to educate the public and our congressional representatives on how such consolidation could impair the quality and diversity of the media in this country."
In addition to TNG-CWA and NABET-CWA, the poll was commissioned by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Writers Guild of America, East.
The FCC made sweeping changes in media ownership rules last year after holding only one public hearing, generating an outcry from consumers and organizations across the political spectrum. Now a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is forcing the FCC to re-examine its decisions.
The court order "presents the (FCC) with a belated opportunity to do what it was unwilling to do before, namely to seek broad-based public input where the impact of such regulatory changes will be felt the most - local media markets. That is precisely where our members work and where consumers get the bulk of their news, information and entertainment," the media unions said in a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell.
Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), David Price (D-N.C.) and Diane Watson (D-Calif.) have been leading the fight to overturn the new FCC rules in Congress. Hinchey has introduced the Media Ownership Reform Act of 2004 (HR 4069), which would restore fairness in broadcasting, reduce media concentration, ensure that broadcasters meet their public interest requirements, and promote diversity, localism, and competition in American media.
"The Court of Appeals correctly ruled that Michael Powell's FCC did not justify these rule changes, which were merely another gift of the Bush administration to large corporations," Hinchey said at the news conference. "I will take every step necessary to ensure that the commission gets it right the second time around."
The two members of the five-member FCC who opposed the ownership changes were also on hand for the press conference and joined in calling for public hearings. "Let's insist this time that our colleagues on the commission include the American people in the process - instead of shutting them out like they did last time," said Commissioner Michael Copps, joined by Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
The poll of media workers, conducted by a Washington D.C. research group, shows that journalists are extremely concerned about media consolidation undermining news quality and credibility.
Mona Mangan, executive director of the Writers Guild, East, said the poll is a "wake up call" that the "FCC must stop catering to the interests of media conglomerates and focus on what is in the best interest of the public."
Armed with results of a poll of 400 print and broadcast professionals, the unions and allies on Capitol Hill say media consolidation is increasingly and negatively affecting the quality and diversity of news reporting and access to information.
"Media workers, better than anyone else, understand the dire implications that further consolidation will have on their work and the public's ability to access quality information. The results of this poll point up the need for more outreach by the FCC before the commissioners allow more contraction in the industry," The Newspaper Guild-CWA President Linda Foley said at a July 20 news conference on Capitol Hill.
NABET-CWA President John Clark said, "Our task now is to educate the public and our congressional representatives on how such consolidation could impair the quality and diversity of the media in this country."
In addition to TNG-CWA and NABET-CWA, the poll was commissioned by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Writers Guild of America, East.
The FCC made sweeping changes in media ownership rules last year after holding only one public hearing, generating an outcry from consumers and organizations across the political spectrum. Now a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is forcing the FCC to re-examine its decisions.
The court order "presents the (FCC) with a belated opportunity to do what it was unwilling to do before, namely to seek broad-based public input where the impact of such regulatory changes will be felt the most - local media markets. That is precisely where our members work and where consumers get the bulk of their news, information and entertainment," the media unions said in a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell.
Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), David Price (D-N.C.) and Diane Watson (D-Calif.) have been leading the fight to overturn the new FCC rules in Congress. Hinchey has introduced the Media Ownership Reform Act of 2004 (HR 4069), which would restore fairness in broadcasting, reduce media concentration, ensure that broadcasters meet their public interest requirements, and promote diversity, localism, and competition in American media.
"The Court of Appeals correctly ruled that Michael Powell's FCC did not justify these rule changes, which were merely another gift of the Bush administration to large corporations," Hinchey said at the news conference. "I will take every step necessary to ensure that the commission gets it right the second time around."
The two members of the five-member FCC who opposed the ownership changes were also on hand for the press conference and joined in calling for public hearings. "Let's insist this time that our colleagues on the commission include the American people in the process - instead of shutting them out like they did last time," said Commissioner Michael Copps, joined by Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
The poll of media workers, conducted by a Washington D.C. research group, shows that journalists are extremely concerned about media consolidation undermining news quality and credibility.
Mona Mangan, executive director of the Writers Guild, East, said the poll is a "wake up call" that the "FCC must stop catering to the interests of media conglomerates and focus on what is in the best interest of the public."