Free Press to Host 'Owning Our Airwaves: A Community Dialogue with Media Policymakers'
PITTSBURGH -- On Monday, Sept. 26, Free Press is hosting a community dialogue on the state of the media in Pittsburgh, Pa. featuring Rep. Mike Doyle and Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps.
Policymakers and community leaders will discuss the changes needed to guarantee Pittsburgh residents access to in-depth investigative reporting and quality local news that promote government and corporate accountability and represent the diversity of the city.
Pittsburgh is the nation's 23rd-largest media market, with nearly 1.2 million TV homes served. Despite its size, there are no minority-owned television stations and only a single female-owned television station in the Pittsburgh market. There are just four African American-owned radio stations, which are the only minority stations in the market. In total, of the 59 commercial broadcast properties in Pittsburgh, only four are minority owned, or 6.7 percent, despite the fact that minorities comprise nearly a third of the Pittsburgh-area population. Women own just 5 percent of the areas commercial broadcast properties, despite comprising half of the area's population.
This fall is a critical moment for the future of our airwaves. The FCC will soon review its media-ownership rules and faces massive industry pressure to do away with the remaining public-interest protections. In Congress, the budget “super committee” will weigh cuts to public media as it trims the federal budget.
Owning Our Airwaves: A Community Dialogue with Media Policymakers
Date: Monday, Sept. 26
Time: 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30
Location: McConomy Auditorium, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Featured Speakers: Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.)
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
Matt Wood, policy director of Free Press
Deborah Acklin, president and CEO of WQED Multimedia
Marge Krueger, Communications Workers of America
Khari Mosley, Pittsburgh United
Jon Peha, Carnegie Mellon University
Chris Ramirez, National Association of Hispanic Journalists
***Members of the media interested in attending and covering the event should RSVP to Jenn Ettinger at jettinger@freepress.net or Dave Saldana at dsaldana@freepress.net.***
