---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:29:44 -0400
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: FCC Scandal Explodes - Second Revelation of Suppressed Media Ownership
Research
FCC Scandal Explodes with Second Revelation of
Suppressed Media Ownership Research
by Robert W. McChesney
Published on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 by
CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0919-27.htm
Last week, Sen. Barbara Boxer rocked the re-
confirmation hearings for Federal Communications
Commission Chairman Kevin Martin when she released a
suppressed FCC study from 2004 - leaked to her by an
FCC whistleblower - that indicated locally owned
television stations did far more local news programming
than TV stations owned by big conglomerates. A former
FCC lawyer acknowledged that agency officials ordered
the report and all supporting material be destroyed.
Martin, who was on the FCC in 2004 but not yet its
Chairman, said he had no idea the report had been done
in the first place and knew nothing about its
disappearance. Then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell also
claims he knew nothing about it, and, in classic Bush-
era fashion, he took no responsibility for what
transpired under his command.
In their minds, this was some sort of clerical error --
and the sooner everyone forgot about it, the better.
The FCC could go back to its time-honored job of doling
out tens of billions of dollars in monopoly privileges
to massive media and communication firms in relative
anonymity.
That PR approach collapsed this week on Monday, Sept.
18, when another repressed FCC study was leaked to
Senator Boxer by an FCC whistleblower. This study
demonstrated that independent radio ownership plummeted
after the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act,
even though the number of commercial radio stations
actually increased. As with the first study, by all
accounts it was grade-A empirical research of the
highest quality. Apparently that was the problem.
Martin finally agreed to an independent investigation
on Monday night, though no timetable has been set. But
-- and this is crucial --he apparently does not intend
to delay his mad rush to relax ownership rules until
the investigation has been completed and steps have
been implemented to address the problem. It is full
speed ahead. So right now this looks more like a PR
stunt than a genuine effort to get at the truth and
deal with its implications for policy making. In view
of Martin's and the FCC's record, skepticism is not
only justified, but warranted.
Let me explain. This scandal could not have hit the FCC
at a worse time from Martin's vantage point. Right now,
the FCC is formally reviewing its local media ownership
rules and is prepared to vote on relaxing or
eliminating them as soon as the end of the year.
In 2003, when Powell tried to eliminate any
restrictions on local media ownership, the public
revolted, with an extraordinary left-right coalition
that generated nearly 3 million letters to the FCC and
Congress. Powell announced plans for numerous public
hearings on media localism across the country as he
tried to persuade Congress he was actually listening to
the people. The federal courts eventually rejected
Powell???s plan to relax media ownership rules in 2004,
and he resigned as a failure in 2005.
Powell's plans for hearings on localism were quietly
dropped after Powell learned in no uncertain terms at
the tumultuous hearings he attended that the public
wanted more locally owned broadcast media and wanted
rules to reverse media consolidation, not permit it.
Kevin Martin now has been tasked by the Bush
administration to do the job his predecessor couldn't:
Eliminate the restrictions on local media ownership so
the big media firms, like Tribune, Sinclair, News
Corp., Clear Channel, Gannett, Belo and Media General,
-- which have been so supportive of the Bush
administration -- could build local monopolies by
gobbling up most of the media in communities around
America.
Their vision is of owning an empire of company media
towns with one monopoly newsroom servicing all the
outlets in a town, and a massive reliance on
inexpensive syndicated fare. A dream for the company
that holds the monopoly - and for the politicians it
supports - but a nightmare for everyone else.
Martin has promised to hold as many as six official
public hearings but has so far only committed to one in
Los Angeles on October 3. He and the Republican
majority are unequivocally in favor of scrapping rules
limiting local media monopolies, but they have to at
least make it look like they care about the public and
due process - because that's what the law requires - to
get their gift to big media approved by the courts.
But this scandal has thrown a monkey wrench into
Martin???s and the Bush administration???s best-laid plans.
Core research that undermines the argument for relaxing
media ownership rules has been suppressed by the agency
that is legally obligated to serve the public interest.
Something is utterly rotten here, and the logical
question facing everyone is how extensive has this
pattern of corruption and suppression been?
It is imperative that the FCC slow down its mad dash to
implement sweeping media ownership rules changes this
year. It must wait until the independent investigation
has been completed. It must fulfill Martin's promise to
hold at least six official public hearings around the
nation. It must pay attention to what the research
indicates and, every bit as important, what the people
of the nation tell the FCC in their filings with the
commission and at its public hearings.
This can happen, but only if enough Americans contact
the FCC and get their names on the record demanding
fairness and integrity.
Fortunately a coalition of some 40 consumer, labor,
civil rights and public interest groups have formed a
coalition, www.StopBigMedia.com, to rally public
involvement and opposition to corrupt FCC procedures on
media ownership. Go to the Web site and send a message
to the FCC demanding full accountability:
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/coverup.php
If we know one thing from the past four years of
activism in the burgeoning media reform movement, it is
that organized people can defeat organized money. In
fact, it is the only thing that does. But it takes a
lot of people because we are talking about a lot of
money, so please get on the bus. And bring your
friends.
[Robert W. McChesney is the president and founder of
Free Press, and the author of The Problem of the
Media.]
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