Occupy the Airwaves!

[Commentary] "Occupy Wall St." is a spontaneous uprising of citizens. It is both a protest against corruption, poverty, homelessness, and greed as well as a call for citizens to come together to build a better world.

For many, this is a '100 percent movement' that recognizes we are all in this time of change together and no one can be excluded from a respectful contribution to the conversation of democracy. Power in a democracy is the power to communicate and mass communication in the United States and most of the world is dominated by one medium -- television. To put the power of television in perspective, the average person in the United States watches roughly 4 hours per day. Importantly, the amount of TV viewing time is not declining with the growth in Internet use. Surveys show that most people still get most of their news about the world from a single source -- television. Given it's immense power, what is the responsibility of the broadcast media that use our public airwaves for communication that serves the public interest? The answer is: unequivocal. If there is ever a conflict between the private interest of broadcasting companies and the public interest of communities they serve, it is always the public interest that prevails if the public will stand up for itself. There is no shortage of issues and concerns but there is a shortage in the "public space" being given to those concerns by the broadcast media. When it comes to the media upon which we citizens most rely for our news about the world -- broadcast television -- we are entertainment rich and knowledge poor. This is no longer a matter of "taste." The future of our civilization depends upon employing the mainstream media -- our primary public space -- to cultivate an informed and engaged public. It is now our responsibility as citizens in the communications era to stand up for the conversation of democracy, including those we disagree with. Here is where the rubber hits the road. It is vital for citizens to have the confidence of understanding that we literally and legally own the airwaves at the 'local level.'