Minority-Owned Broadcasters Ask Geithner for Financial Help

A group of minority-owned broadcasters on Monday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking for financial assistance akin to the aid that has been extended to the financial and auto industries. "Minority-owned broadcasters are close to becoming an extinct species," the letter said. "Even in better economic times, minority broadcasters have historically had difficulties accessing the capital markets." The broadcasters told Sec Geithner that they can bounce back from the brink of collapse if they are given some temporary assistance while the credit markets are slow. "Unlike the auto business, broadcasting has been healthy for many years," their letter said. The broadcasters said they support a proposal sent in May to Geithner by a group of influential House members asking for a minority-broadcaster support program, bridge funding or government-backed loans. The House letter was signed by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) and a group of key committee chairmen, including Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY). "It is absolutely essential that we do not allow this once-in-a-generation financial crisis to erase the modest inroads minorities have made into the broadcast industry," the lawmakers' letter said.
Minority Broadcasters Try Direct Appeal to Geithner, Ask for Industry Help