Rainbow/PUSH Symposium Recap

RAINBOW/PUSH SYMPOSIUM RECAP
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin wants to take advantage of the television industry's transition to digital broadcasting to make channels available to small businesses that may be owned by minority programmers. He promoted his long-dormant concept Friday in the face of heavy criticism of his agency's record on promoting minority ownership of media. The chairman spoke at a media and telecommunications symposium hosted by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and its founder, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who bemoaned the state of minority media ownership in America. "We have a minority-ownership crisis," said Rev Jackson. "Too few own too much at the expense of too many." Rev Jackson said the lack of minority owners means that people of color are depicted in the media as "less intelligent than we are, less hardworking than we are, less patriotic than we are and more violent." He was joined by FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps calling for the creation of a minority media ownership task force that would make recommendations to the Commission before it approves a new set of media ownership rules in the coming months.

* FCC Chief Wants More Minority Broadcasters
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/BUSINESS01/710...

* Chairman Martin's remarks
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-277312A1.doc

* Commissioner Adelstein's remarks
"The fundamental issue we are here to discuss is media ownership. It is not enough to simply work the land. It's more important to own the land. Media sharecropping is not a viable alternative to ownership. A comprehensive answer to the dearth of female and people of color ownership cannot wait any longer. Before we act on the media ownership rules, we need to implement the recommendations of our independent panel. It's not enough to get a report, or issue a notice. We need to implement policies that will address this crisis before we act on any rules to further consolidate the media, which can only take media outlets further out of the reach of women and people of color."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-277321A1.doc

* Martin: Untying, Unbundling Cable Programming Would Help Minorities
FCC Chairman Martin pushed for program unbundling at both the wholesale and subscriber level, saying that he thought the FCC should prohibit programmers from requiring operators to buy bundles of channels that include ones viewers don't want, as well as requiring operators to unbundle channel offerings to allow viewers to buy channels a la carte. This will lower cable bills, he said, while making it easier for independent voices, like minorities, to get cable carriage. The cable industry argued that a la carte will do the opposite. Chairman Martin also proposed restoring minority tax certificates -- a proposal that got applause.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6490766.html?rssid=193

* Martin Not Opposed to Diversity Task Force
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Friday that he was not opposed to a media diversity task force along the lines proposed by fellow FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, but it should not preclude "moving forward on ownership issues. After his speech to Rainbow/PUSH, with Rev Jackson at his side, Chairman Martin was asked whether, if a task force could be assembled quickly, he would consider recommendations of such a task force before acting on a media-ownership rewrite. Chairman Martin said he would "always consider any of the recommendations by any group that comes forward, whether Rev. Jackson was a part of it or not. But obviously, if someone of his stature was involved, it gives it significant additional weight." "I always support additional input, but neither do I think the commission shouldn't move forward depending on when the input comes,” Chairman Martin said. “We have had a significant amount of time where people have been commenting. This proceeding has been open for more than one year, and I think it is time for us to come to some kind of time frame that we can move forward on."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6490714.html?rssid=193

* Martin: Time To Kill Exclusive Cable-MDU Deals
Chairman Martin is supporting adoption of a rule that would ban cable companies from excluding other communications companies from apartment buildings through the use of exclusive contracts. He said his rule would disproportionately benefit minorities because 40% of households headed by minorities live in apartment buildings, while apartment units make up 25% of the nation’s housing stock.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6490977.html?rssid=196

* Jackson: Imus Media Megaphone Suggested ‘Corruption of Concentration’
Rainbow/PUSH founder The Rev. Jesse Jackson said it was not so much what radio/TV jock Don Imus said about the Rutgers University women’s basketball players, although it was very offensive, but rather the size of the media megaphone he had to say it.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6490795.html?rssid=193