Addressing the Need for Media Ownership Reform

[Commentary] While much of our nation's attention has understandably turned to recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, the war in Iraq, homeland security and other timely issues, a topic at the heart of these matters, media ownership, has largely gone ignored. How and from where Americans receive their news on these and other issues are of critical importance. Yet this country's media ownership rules have limited our sources of information, resulting in inadequate and biased news reporting -- the opposite of what our public needs. It is essential that Congress act to reassess our telecommunications policies and regulations to uphold fairness and democracy in our society. The American public is largely unaware that the information it receives from the media almost always originates from the same few sources. This phenomenon shrinks the marketplace of ideas and prevents new and independent voices from entering the mainstream. A handful of companies are permitted to decide what the American public can or cannot see and hear in media and are under little obligation to meet demands for informative, quality programming. Our government must dedicate great attention and consideration to the improvement of America's malfunctioning news-distribution system. In an age when possibilities for national and global communication are virtually endless, we must not allow a small number of corporations to control the flow of information. Rather, Congress must ensure that our citizens are provided access to diverse and educational programming from a variety of sources and presented with ways to express their opinions regarding media policy decisions. The survival of our democratic republic depends on it.