Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Senate Bipartisan Group Fights FCC Media Decision
The media ownership battle is heating up on Capitol Hill, with action by a bipartisan group of senators and the House Appropriations Committee to overturn critical elements of the FCC decision in June allowing media giants to gobble up more of the local TV and newspaper market.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is leading the Senate effort to pass a seldom-used "resolution of disapproval" to thwart the FCC action. The resolution needs only 30 signatures for Senate consideration and already has 35-seven Republicans and 28 Democrats. Dorgan said he is hopeful it will be voted on before the Senate's August recess.
"We are moving to roll back one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests I've ever seen by what is supposed to be a federal regulatory agency," Dorgan said. "The FCC's decision advanced big corporate interests, and did so at the expense of the public interest. They chose concentration over competition. They chose few voices over many voices. In a democracy which relies on the free exchange of many voices, that was the wrong choice."
Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday voted 40-25 for an amendment to bar the FCC from allowing networks to own more local TV stations. The vote came as scores of television executives inundated Capitol Hill to lobby for the networks' right to own unlimited numbers of stations. "The networks' campaign represents a serious threat to media diversity and the free flow of information," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Bahr commended the lawmakers from both parties who are putting the public's interest above corporate demands. "We stand wholeheartedly behind Sen. Dorgan and the many other senators and representatives who are fighting to preserve our democracy's free and diverse media, and we call on the full House and Senate to join with them," Bahr said. "As the public has come to understand the FCC's action, they are outraged by it. They are counting on their representatives in Congress to make it right."
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA said media corporations such as ABC/Disney, General Electric/NBC and AOL-Time Warner already control enormous chunks of the media market.
"The FCC has chipped away at ownership rules for years and we're already seeing media homogenization as a result," she said. "It is absolutely vital that in a democracy the media reflect a variety of voices and viewpoints, and that communities can count on local, independent news sources. That won't be the case if these latest rule changes are allowed to stand."
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is leading the Senate effort to pass a seldom-used "resolution of disapproval" to thwart the FCC action. The resolution needs only 30 signatures for Senate consideration and already has 35-seven Republicans and 28 Democrats. Dorgan said he is hopeful it will be voted on before the Senate's August recess.
"We are moving to roll back one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests I've ever seen by what is supposed to be a federal regulatory agency," Dorgan said. "The FCC's decision advanced big corporate interests, and did so at the expense of the public interest. They chose concentration over competition. They chose few voices over many voices. In a democracy which relies on the free exchange of many voices, that was the wrong choice."
Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday voted 40-25 for an amendment to bar the FCC from allowing networks to own more local TV stations. The vote came as scores of television executives inundated Capitol Hill to lobby for the networks' right to own unlimited numbers of stations. "The networks' campaign represents a serious threat to media diversity and the free flow of information," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Bahr commended the lawmakers from both parties who are putting the public's interest above corporate demands. "We stand wholeheartedly behind Sen. Dorgan and the many other senators and representatives who are fighting to preserve our democracy's free and diverse media, and we call on the full House and Senate to join with them," Bahr said. "As the public has come to understand the FCC's action, they are outraged by it. They are counting on their representatives in Congress to make it right."
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA said media corporations such as ABC/Disney, General Electric/NBC and AOL-Time Warner already control enormous chunks of the media market.
"The FCC has chipped away at ownership rules for years and we're already seeing media homogenization as a result," she said. "It is absolutely vital that in a democracy the media reflect a variety of voices and viewpoints, and that communities can count on local, independent news sources. That won't be the case if these latest rule changes are allowed to stand."