Jackson Pushes Media Ownership Activism

JACKSON PUSHES MEDIA OWNERSHIP ACTIVISM
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Framing media ownership as a civil rights issue and saying it was time to mobilize against further media consolidation, Rainbow PUSH founder the Reverend Jesse Jackson told a Washington policy luncheon audience Monday that his group planned to hold meetings across the country to popularize mass media issues and engage fully in a struggle for the airwaves. Rev Jackson was part of the pushback against the rules in 2003, but he suggested it was time to turn up the heat. That includes a full-time staff to monitor telecommunications issues, but more importantly a push for volunteers to "get in some faces," as Rep. Maxine Waters put it. “Struggles around media ownership have never been mass struggles," Jackson said Monday, though "the impact has been mass." He said the dearth of powerful minority media voices does not just hurt blacks, but "sets the agenda for the rest of the U.S." The flashpoint for the new activist mode is the FCC's current media ownership review, which Rainbow PUSH says is not sufficiently reviewing key issues relating to minority, women and small business media ownership.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6375080.html

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http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117950710?categoryid=18&cs=1&nid=2562