PBS' Moyers on planned media consolidation rule change: FCC/industry 'revolving door' moves to further give away your airwaves  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was heavily criticized by members of the public, along with his colleagues, at the sixth and final public hearing, held on November 9, 2007, on his planned changes to rules on media consolidation.
Input from the public, leading up to the vote, is being accepted until December 11, 2007.
Attendees were heavily suspicious of the short notice given, five business days, as a tactic to prevent more of the public from learning about the hearings, as well as being able to attend and provide input in an already short time window before the commission's vote takes place.
Running this hearing with five days' notice, and then trying to jam media consolidation through by mid-December, to me is damning evidence, by the total abuse of the process itself, that you're up to some kind of no good.
If this is a legitimate issue, then it deserves and demands a legitimate public process to determine the outcome.
You ought to be ashamed of yourselves for not respecting the democracy you live in.
--Hearing participant
Martin's proposed changes, condemned by colleagues, senators, and the public alike, would soften rules on media ownership to allow the owner of a newspaper in one of twenty major cities to also own a television or radio station, a move seen by some as a homogenization of news coverage and content, nonetheless a handout to already thriving media giants.
Who do these guys work for, anyway? As you will see on our website at pbs.org, one FCC commissioner after another has gone to work in the media world. How can you serve the public when, in the back of your mind, you think that one day, Rupert Murdoch may have a big job for you?
Remember Michael Powell? He was the last FCC chairman who wanted to let big media have all it can eat. Powell is now in the pay of 'the world's leading private equity firm focused on media, entertainment, communications, and information investments.'
--Bill Moyers
Video of this episode, also on Raw Replay, is available below. More information on media consolidation, previous PBS coverage, and transcript, is available at PBS.org.
| 
del.icio.us .gif)
