In less than 24 hours, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin plans to hold a vote on rules that will let the largest media companies swallow up more local newspapers and TV stations.
As I posted about last week, Martin is forging on with the vote, which he knows he will win, despite bipartisan Congressional requests to delay the vote and the adamant opposition of two of the five FCC commissioners. If you care about the dismal state of the media, please stop what you’re doing and lend a hand.
The media reform group Free Press is operating on overdrive trying to generate at least 100 calls to every US senator before 5:00 p.m. today asking the lawmakers to pressure the FCC to delay tomorrow’s vote until Congress can vote on the Media Ownership Act of 2007 (S. 2332), which is waiting for a vote on the Senate floor. Click here to find your Senator’s phone number and click here to check out useful talking points.
Just last week, senators from both parties berated FCC Chairman Kevin Martin about his big giveaway to Big Media. He didn’t flinch. He’s now thumbing his nose at both Congress and the public. There’s less than a day to derail Big Media’s efforts to eliminate regulatory roadblocks to increasingly rapid media concentration. Call your Senators immediately.
If you need any incentive to act, check out this new YouTube video from Free Press which shows how high the stakes really are, and read Katrina vanden Heuvel’s recent primer on how the Democratic candidates stack up on the media issue.
