FCC Rept. Says Media Consolidation Harms News - FCC Destroys Report

[otohara]

The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, according to a story by the AP's John Dunbar.

Former FCC attorney Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last piece" of the report be destroyed.
"The whole project was just stopped -- end of discussion," he said.

The FCC staff analysis showed local ownership of television stations adds almost five and one-half minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes of "on-location" news. The conclusion is at odds with FCC arguments made when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of television stations a company could own in a single market. It was part of a broader decision liberalizing ownership rules.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-rintels/fcc-report-says-media-con_b_29452.html

Send a message to STOP BIGGER MEDIA NOW....

http://www.stopbigmedia.com/comment.php

[blm]

1. Kerry went after FCC in the senate in June 2003 - then corpmedia pulled

most of the reporters off his primary campaign.

The way they handled the general election is immortalized in Eric Boehlert's book Lapdogs.



Kerry Seeks to Reverse FCC's "Wrongheaded Vote"

Commission Decision May Violate Laws Protecting Small Businesses; Kerry to File Resolution of Disapproval

Monday, June 2, 2003

WASHINGTON - Senator John Kerry today announced plans to file a "Resolution of Disapproval" as a means to overturn today's decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to raise media ownership caps and loosen various media cross-ownership rules.
Kerry will soon introduce the resolution seeking to reverse this action under the Congressional Review Act and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act on the grounds that the decision may violate the laws intended to protect America's small businesses and allow them an opportunity to compete.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Kerry expressed concern that the FCC's decision will hurt localism, reduce diversity, and will allow media monopolies to flourish. This raises significant concerns about the potential negative impacts the decision will have on small businesses and their ability to compete in today's media marketplace.

In a statement released earlier today regarding the FCC's decision, Kerry said:

"Nothing is more important in a democracy than public access to debates and information, which lift up our discourse and give Americans an opportunity to make honest informed choices. Today's wrongheaded vote by the Republican members of the FCC to loosen media ownership rules shows a dangerous indifference to the consolidation of power in the hands of a few large entities rather than promoting diversity and independence at the local level. The FCC should do more than rubber stamp the business plans of narrow economic interests.

"Today's vote is a complete dereliction of duty. The Commissioners are well aware that these rules greatly influence the competitive structure of the industry and protect the public's access to multiple sources of information and media. It is the Commission's responsibility to ensure that the rules serve our national goals of diversity, competition, and localism in media. With today's vote, they shirked that responsibility and have dismissed any serious discussion about the impact of media consolidation on our own democracy."

[shadowknows69]

2. Deregulation and consolidation

has laid waste to anything good about any media it touches.

[atommom]

3. Here's the report ... someone saved it. Spread the link around!

http://www.freepress.net/docs/fcclocalnews.pdf

[blm]

6. Excellent - thanks.

Am sending to some newsrooms I know where they swear there is no corporate influence - - yeah, right.

[Ezlivin]

4. This administration is REALLY good at shredding and classifying

And I've always wondered what was on the tape that the FAA guy cut into pieces and disposed in many different trash cans.

Six air traffic controllers provided accounts of their communications with hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, on a tape recording that was later destroyed by Federal Aviation Administration managers, according to a government investigative report issued today.
...
According to the report, a second manager at the New York center promised a union official representing the controllers that he would "get rid of" the tape after controllers used it to provide written statements to federal officials about the events of the day.

Instead, the second manager said he destroyed the tape between December 2001 and January 2002 by crushing the tape with his hand, cutting it into small pieces and depositing the pieces into trash cans around the building, the report said.

The tape's existence was never made known to federal officials investigating the attack, nor to FAA officials in Washington. Staff members of the 9/11 panel found out about the tape during interviews with some controllers who participated in the recording.

(Source)

Makes you wonder what the hell they are covering up....

[Selatius]

9. Well, that tape is lost to history now

There could've been some damning information they didn't want to see the light of day, but given that the tape was destroyed, we'll never know now.

[Uncle Joe]

5. These guys truly can't handle the truth.

Thanks for posting otohara

Kicked and recommended

[spanone]

7. facism happens

[blm]

8. This is VERY important post - kick and rec

and hope people realize once and for all that the corpmedia and BFEE are one and the same.

[WhiteTara]

10. So important! Kick

:kick:

[never cry wolf]

11. Very interesting terminology... "liberalizing ownership rules."

Damn liberal media??? Actually just the opposite. Liberating restrictions on corporations is conservative.

Tis late but I have a spark... Conservatives are corporate liberals? Liberals are corporate conservatives?

I DO believe the root word for liberal is liberty. The root word for conservative obviously is conserve. To conserve is to restrict or ration.

Liberty empowers, conserve restricts....

"Conservatives" want to liberalize corporations and restrict individuals....

"Liberals" want to restrict corporations and liberalize individuals...

So, it's not really conservative vs liberal, it's corporate liberty/restriction vs individual liberty/restriction...