Press Release
FCC Brings Media Ownership Debate to the Windy City
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
CHICAGO -- On Sept. 20, all five Federal Communications Commissioners will meet face-to-face with the public at a hearing in Chicago to discuss sweeping changes to the nation's media ownership rules.
"Big media companies have plenty of opportunities to make their views known in Washington," said Brian Imus, state director of Illinois PIRG. "This hearing is the chance for Chicago residents to finally be heard on the dangers of media consolidation. We encourage citizens from all parts of Illinois to participate in this important hearing."
The FCC is reviewing longstanding restrictions on the number of television and radio stations a company can own in one area as well as the prohibition on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership -- which prevents companies from owning a television or radio station and the major daily newspaper in most markets.
In Chicago, the cross-ownership rules have taken center stage as the FCC considers whether to allow Sam Zell, the new owner of the Tribune Co., to hold onto the Chicago Tribune as well as WGN-TV and WGN-AM. When the cross-ownership ban was instituted in 1975, the FCC "grandfathered" the Tribune's ownership of these outlets.
"It's time for the FCC to stop pretending that media conglomerates like the Tribune Co. are local businesses that serve local communities," said Linda K. Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. "In this age of media consolidation, the FCC should not only continue its rule banning cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market, the commissioners should reconsider the multiple waivers of the ban granted Tribune Co. over the years."
Tribune also operates both TV stations and newspapers in New York, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Hartford, Conn., under "temporary" FCC waivers issued in 2000. But neither the waivers nor the grandfather protections apply to the new owner. Tribune lobbyists have been pressuring federal regulators to exempt the company from cross-ownership rules.
In 2003, Martin joined then-Chairman Michael Powell in voting to seriously weaken these same media ownership rules. In response, millions of people contacted the FCC and Congress to oppose the changes. The Senate voted to overturn the rules, which were later tossed out in federal court -- sending the FCC back to the drawing board.
"Rupert Murdoch's highly publicized fight for the Wall Street Journal underscores a very disturbing trend in our media -- ownership-driven interference with quality journalism," said Joel Kelsey of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. "The media marketplace needs more competitors, not less. If the FCC lifts the current ownership limits, media titans like Murdoch will be able to swallow up even more of our local news outlets."
The hearing -- the fifth of six official events being held across the country by the FCC -- will feature an "open microphone" session for the public to offer testimony on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Chicago event follows official hearings held in Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Tampa, Fla. Unofficial hearings, attended by Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, have been held over the past two years in Norfolk, Va.; Asheville, N.C.; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Austin, Texas; Oakland, Calif.; New York City; Hyde Park, N.Y.; Seattle; and Philadelphia. In March, Commissioner McDowell joined Adelstein and Copps at a hearing in Columbus, Ohio.
A broad and diverse range of local and national groups is urging its members to attend the hearing and testify about the impacts of media consolidation. They include the Benton Foundation, Chicago Access Network Television, Chicago Media Action, Chicago Westside NAACP, Children Now, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, Community Media Workshop, Community Renewal Society, Consumers Union, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Females United For Action, Free Press, Future of Music Coalition, Having Your Say, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Illinois Campus Compact, Illinois PIRG, Latino Council on the Media, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association, Midwest Gap Enterprises, Prometheus Radio Project, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Radio-Television Broadcast Engineers Union I.B.E.W Local 1212, Shaping Young Minds TV, South Austin Coalition, The Bobby E. Wright Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center Inc., The Media and Democracy Coalition, The Newspaper Guild-CWA, United Church of Christ, Office of Communication Inc., We The People Media/Residents' Journal, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and WRTE Radio Arte.
"Even in a media market as large as Chicago, cross-ownership has allowed the Tribune Co. to dominate the local news audience," said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press. "For the hundreds of markets smaller than Chicago, allowing one company to own both the daily newspaper and a broadcast station would be far more devastating to local competition and diversity. The FCC should uphold its cross-ownership rules -- and force new owners to comply."
For more information, visit www.stopbigmedia.com/=Chicago
"Big media companies have plenty of opportunities to make their views known in Washington," said Brian Imus, state director of Illinois PIRG. "This hearing is the chance for Chicago residents to finally be heard on the dangers of media consolidation. We encourage citizens from all parts of Illinois to participate in this important hearing."
The FCC is reviewing longstanding restrictions on the number of television and radio stations a company can own in one area as well as the prohibition on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership -- which prevents companies from owning a television or radio station and the major daily newspaper in most markets.
In Chicago, the cross-ownership rules have taken center stage as the FCC considers whether to allow Sam Zell, the new owner of the Tribune Co., to hold onto the Chicago Tribune as well as WGN-TV and WGN-AM. When the cross-ownership ban was instituted in 1975, the FCC "grandfathered" the Tribune's ownership of these outlets.
"It's time for the FCC to stop pretending that media conglomerates like the Tribune Co. are local businesses that serve local communities," said Linda K. Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. "In this age of media consolidation, the FCC should not only continue its rule banning cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market, the commissioners should reconsider the multiple waivers of the ban granted Tribune Co. over the years."
Tribune also operates both TV stations and newspapers in New York, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Hartford, Conn., under "temporary" FCC waivers issued in 2000. But neither the waivers nor the grandfather protections apply to the new owner. Tribune lobbyists have been pressuring federal regulators to exempt the company from cross-ownership rules.
In 2003, Martin joined then-Chairman Michael Powell in voting to seriously weaken these same media ownership rules. In response, millions of people contacted the FCC and Congress to oppose the changes. The Senate voted to overturn the rules, which were later tossed out in federal court -- sending the FCC back to the drawing board.
"Rupert Murdoch's highly publicized fight for the Wall Street Journal underscores a very disturbing trend in our media -- ownership-driven interference with quality journalism," said Joel Kelsey of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. "The media marketplace needs more competitors, not less. If the FCC lifts the current ownership limits, media titans like Murdoch will be able to swallow up even more of our local news outlets."
The hearing -- the fifth of six official events being held across the country by the FCC -- will feature an "open microphone" session for the public to offer testimony on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Chicago event follows official hearings held in Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Tampa, Fla. Unofficial hearings, attended by Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, have been held over the past two years in Norfolk, Va.; Asheville, N.C.; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Austin, Texas; Oakland, Calif.; New York City; Hyde Park, N.Y.; Seattle; and Philadelphia. In March, Commissioner McDowell joined Adelstein and Copps at a hearing in Columbus, Ohio.
A broad and diverse range of local and national groups is urging its members to attend the hearing and testify about the impacts of media consolidation. They include the Benton Foundation, Chicago Access Network Television, Chicago Media Action, Chicago Westside NAACP, Children Now, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, Community Media Workshop, Community Renewal Society, Consumers Union, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Females United For Action, Free Press, Future of Music Coalition, Having Your Say, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Illinois Campus Compact, Illinois PIRG, Latino Council on the Media, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association, Midwest Gap Enterprises, Prometheus Radio Project, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Radio-Television Broadcast Engineers Union I.B.E.W Local 1212, Shaping Young Minds TV, South Austin Coalition, The Bobby E. Wright Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center Inc., The Media and Democracy Coalition, The Newspaper Guild-CWA, United Church of Christ, Office of Communication Inc., We The People Media/Residents' Journal, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and WRTE Radio Arte.
"Even in a media market as large as Chicago, cross-ownership has allowed the Tribune Co. to dominate the local news audience," said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press. "For the hundreds of markets smaller than Chicago, allowing one company to own both the daily newspaper and a broadcast station would be far more devastating to local competition and diversity. The FCC should uphold its cross-ownership rules -- and force new owners to comply."
For more information, visit www.stopbigmedia.com/=Chicago
