PHILADELPHIA
FCC rulings challenged by community radio station
By Betsey Piette
Philadelphia
On Sept. 4, Clear Channel, Viacom, Fox and
other media megaliths were dealt a temporary setback in their
drive to totally monopolize the information industry when the
community-based Prometheus Radio Project won a court-ordered
stay against the Federal Communications Commission's push to
deregulate media ownership.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in
Philadelphia delayed the implementation of the FCC's
pro-monopoly media-ownership rules, which had been issued on
June 2. The court ruled in response to a petition filed by the
Prome theus Radio Project, a West-Philadel phia-based group
that promotes community-based low-power radio stations. Several
organizations, including the Media Access Project, a
Washington, D.C., advocacy group, backed the petition.
The FCC's move over the summer allowed media companies to
own newspapers and broadcast properties in the same market. It
also provided for a single company to own television stations
reaching 45 percent of the country's viewers. The ruling would
open the way for the television networks ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox
to gobble up more stations and limit local control of
programming.
Prometheus brought the motion to stay the rules on behalf of
the over 750,000 people who faxed and e-mailed their opposition
after FCC Chair Michael Powell asked the public to tell him
what they thought about relaxing the media ownership rules.
According to dissident FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, citizen
input to the FCC ran 99.99 percent against the proposed rule
changes.
The FCC's June ruling had come as no surprise, given the
blatant support media conglomerates like Clear Channel, Fox and
Viacom showed for the Bush administration's war against the
people of Iraq. Clear Channel, which held rallies promoting the
war and targeted anti-war performers like the Dixie Chicks,
owns over 1,200 radio stations and 37 television stations. It
is in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60 percent
of all rock programming.
Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts Jr., who served on the Armed
Services Committee and the Military Personnel and Procure ment
Subcommittee, is the newest appointee to the Clear Channel
governing board. As a member of these committees, Watts was
partially responsible for providing $10 billion for the "war on
terrorism" and supporting the Patriot Act. Clear Channel Vice
Chair Tom Hicks is a member of the Bush Pioneer club for
elite--and generous--donors.
Similar connections that shed light on the
media-military-industrial complex exist with Viacom, Fox, NBC,
and others. Michael Powell's father, Secretary of State Colin
Powell, sat--from 1998 to January 2001--on the board of
directors of AOL Time Warner, which owns CNN, HBO and is the
biggest provider of cable modem service.
Before the FCC's June 2 ruling, Prometheus Radio Project,
along with the Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network,
Philadelphia Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, and Media
Tank, held public demonstrations in Philadel phia protest ing
the media's open support of the war.
"If ever there was a special interest, it's the giant media
corporations," said Pro metheus Technical Director Pete
Tridish. "They manage America's perceptions of their activities
using the very airwaves they control. These are the wrong sorts
of groups to give so much power over what Americans see and
hear about their world. This decision to stay the rules will
give a chance to convince the powers that be that the
consolidation that has already happened in radio should not
happen in other media."
Reprinted from the Sept. 25, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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