Markey Pushes Ownership Diversity, Pledges to Keep Net Neutrality Wave Rolling

MARKEY PUSHES OWNERSHIP DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
New House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) told attendees at the National Conference on Media Reform Saturday that Congress needed to explore ways to boost minority ownership of the media and took aim at loosened ownership rules he blamed for suppressing a diversity of views. Citing the appropriateness of holding the conference on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, Rep Markey called diversity of ownership "a proxy for diversity of viewpoints and diversity of content. Simply put, therefore, elimination of ownership limits eradicates an important tool we have to help ensure that the public has access to a wide array of viewpoints in local news and information." He slammed the remanded media ownership changes of 2003, saying they had been "rammed through the FCC" and, save for the court, would have "eviscerated the public interest" and been a "toxin to Democracy and the death knell for community control of the media."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6407479.html?display=Breaking...

MARKEY PLEDGES TO KEEP NET NEUTRALITY WAVE ROLLING
[SOURCE: MediaCitizen, AUTHOR: Tim Karr]
Rep Ed Markey, who now chairs the House Subcommittee that will oversee all telecommunications legislation, promised to protect Internet freedom in his elevated role within Congress. "We are going to, in Washington, have an historic debate over the next two years and I will chair the committee that is having those hearings," Rep Markey told the audience. "I can promise you this, that unlike the last two years it just won't be the CEOs of the telephone and cable companies who are there. You will be selecting witnesses to testify right next to them on the same day before the same Congressmen so that the voices of the American people will be heard as well." "Let me tell you something about Congress," Rep Markey said. "Congress is a stimulus response institution. There is nothing more stimulating than having 1.5 million people who say I don't think I want you to keep your job if you won't keep your hands off the Internet." Rep Markey blasted the phone and cable company assault on Net Neutrality, pledging to foster openness, innovation and neutrality during his tenure. But he indicated he can't safeguard Internet freedom on his own. According to Chairman Markey, the digital revolution has the potential to change our society only if we "animate these technologies with the human values that represent our highest aspirations for our society."
http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2007/01/markey-pledges-to-keep-net-neut...

* Text of Rep Markey's remarks
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/01/14/daily.1/

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http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6407334.html?display=Breaking+News