Chance to make a difference

If you're concerned about a few big companies controlling our country's access to news, information, and entertainment, we need your help now.

Later this week or early next week, the Senate will likely take up its last major vote on media reform, and it'll be very close. After a grassroots groundswell tipped the balance toward rolling back the FCC rule change that would allow greater media concentration, lobbyists from big media conglomerates have been working around the clock to tip it back.

On Wednesday, MoveOn.org will be holding a crucial press conference with Senator Dorgan (D-ND) and Senator Snowe (R-ME) and groups across the political spectrum to highlight the broad opposition to the FCC rule change. We need to show that over 100,000 people have voiced their demand that the Senate vote to roll back the rule change. Please help us reach 100,000 signers by this Wednesday -- you can sign below at:

http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/

Last spring, MoveOn members joined with members of groups from Common Cause and NOW to the NRA to voice our opposition to an FCC rule change that would alter the dynamics of the American news media. The rule change proposed to tear down old boundaries that controlled how much of the media in a given community (and in the entire country) could be owned by one company.

After over 2 million Americans wrote the FCC to oppose the change, the FCC chairman, Michael Powell, pushed through the rule change anyway, in a 3-2 party line vote. But Congress was watching, and when we asked Congress to roll back the rule change, Senators and Representatives on both sides of the aisle took up the call.

In July, the House struck down one piece of the rule change by a 400-to-21 vote. It was a big win, and media companies were shocked. As big contributors to both political parties, media conglomerates had assumed that their bottom line would be Congress' first priority. "Never before have I seen an FCC chairman's decision repudiated by the House of Representatives so quickly and so emphatically," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA).

So, in August, the media companies fought back. They launched a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign, using distorted polls and misleading advertising to twist the arms of members of the Senate.

Now, in the next week, the final vote on rolling back the FCC rule change will come to the Senate floor. We can beat this thing, but we'll need every last person to do so. Please sign the "Stop the FCC" petition right now, and ask your friends and family to sign as well.

You can sign now at:

http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/

Together, we can make sure that America's media is diverse, competitive, and balanced.

Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn Team
September 8th, 2003

P.S. Here's a great fact sheet on the current situation, from the Consumer Federation of America. To learn more about media deregulation, you can also check out Free Press's website.

MEDIA OWNERSHIP FACT SHEET

Major FCC Rules under consideration:

1) National Broadcast Cap: Limits percentage of the national audience that one network may reach to 35%. New rules lift percentage to 45%.

2) Cross Ownership Rule: Bans mergers between newspapers, radio stations, and local television broadcasters. New rule would lift the ban in over 80% of markets.

3) Duopoly/Triopoly Rule: Prevents one company from owning more than one major television station in most markets. The new rule would allow one company to own three stations in about 20 markets and one company to own two TV stations in an additional 100 markets.


If the FCC's rule stands, one news entity could control more than half of a local news market, and more than two thirds of the reporters in that same market.

The number of independent owners of media outlets has declined in the last 25 years. Since 1975, two thirds of independent newspaper owners have disappeared (from 860 to 290). Since 1975 one third of independent TV owners have disappeared (540 to 360). The FCC's order sets the stage for a further reduction in independent media ownership.

Most Americans -- 80 percent -- still get their news from local TV and newspapers. Allowing consolidation between those main sources of local news on the premise that the Internet and cable television have become the primary source of local information is not market reality.

The US Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit last week blocked the FCC media ownership rule changes, citing adequate evidence that the petitioners may have a legitimate legal case. The rules were stayed from the scheduled September 4th implementation because of the irreversible damage they might cause before a rollback could be enacted.

According to the FCC, over 2.3 million Americans have voiced their opposition to the new rules.
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