Do you think you have choices? You don’t. Corporations shape the way we get our news through the ownership of multiple new sources. Fox, Fox News, Fox Business News, Fox Sports, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, etc. You get the picture. Corporate power has become too great. Federal Communications Committee Chairman Kevin Martin wants to ease regulations on corporate ownership. He pushed through last week for a vote this week to bow down to the corporations. Yesterday, he got what he wanted,
“The Federal Communications Commission narrowly approved on Tuesday a loosening of media ownership restrictions in the 20 biggest U.S. cities, despite objections from consumer groups and a threat by some senators to revoke the action.
The FCC voted 3-2, along party lines, to ease the 32-year-old ban on ownership of a newspaper and broadcast outlet in a single market.
Existing FCC rules ban ownership of a newspaper, and a television or radio station in the same market, unless the FCC grants a waiver.
The FCC’s Republican chairman, Kevin Martin, called the move a “relatively minimal loosening of the ban”
Sure thing, Kevin. What does this mean? More corporate control of what you watch on TV, what you listen to on the radio, and what you read in newspapers. The Democrats on the committee voted against the ban,
“The vote came over the objections of the FCC’s two Democratic commissioners who said easing the ownership rule would lead to more consolidation in the industry, eliminate independent voices and degrade local news coverage.”
How we go to war and who we vote for President is greatly influenced by the media. The corporate controlled media was just handed more power by the Republican majority of the FCC and Chairman Kevin Martin. Read the full article here. Check out the piece, “Massing of the Media” from the program “Bill Moyers Journal” to learn more.
