FCC Commissioners speak out Against Media Consolidation

FCC COMMISSIONERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST MEDIA CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Joe Garofoli]
As the Federal Communications Commission reviews its rules on media ownership, Commissioner Michael Copps urged Friday that the process be more open than it was in 2003, when the Commission "eviscerated" ownership rules "without seeking meaningful input from the American people." Though the changes were largely overturned by a federal court, Commissioner Copps warned 350 people at a community forum in Oakland that "we're right back at Square 1. Big Media hasn't gone away; their lobbyists haven't gone away; and they're still marching behind their 'Pied Piper of Consolidation.''' Copps and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, the five-member panel's only Democrats, appeared at the California State Conference of the NAACP to rally interest in media consolidation issues at a forum sponsored by the NAACP and several progressive organizations. The FCC will hold five more official hearings nationwide on consolidation, and could vote as early as March on any changes. Copps and Adelstein, who oppose further consolidation, plan to hold a dozen similar unofficial forums elsewhere. While there is more awareness of the issue after the 2003 battle over media consolidation, the two commissioners' path this time will be equally difficult. Not only are they outnumbered by Republicans on the panel, both said that they are also having a hard time getting information from their own agency about what studies the FCC is conducting on consolidation issues.
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