Stop Big Media: Huge Senate win!

second good news, E-Activism works, even if it takes a while, when the FCC on December 17th. 2007, went against 99% of American peoples wishes and overturned a rule that 1 company can not own more than one of either print, tv or radio in any one region, FreePress went to work, getting people like you and I involved in stressing to our Senators that we the people can not take this blatant disregard of our wishes. I wrote "Now Big Media can hurt workers better" at the FreePress Blog on Dec. 19th., the CWA and AFTRA joined in the fight

From the E-Mailbox

Dear Joseph, Just moments ago, by a near-unanimous vote, the Senate stood up to Big Media. They voted to throw out the FCC decision to let the largest media companies swallow up even more local media. This is simply an astounding victory, and it would not have happened without the massive grassroots effort by you and thousands of others who called their senators, sent more than a quarter million letters, posted thousands of pictures and stories on StopBigMedia.com, and testified at public hearings held by the FCC. It was your dedication that made today's Senate win possible. Today was a huge step forward, but there is still much to do. The fight against the FCC now moves to the House, where our elected representatives need to hear from us. President Bush has promised that he will try to veto this bill. But tonight the Senate and the American people have spoken with one voice. This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House. We are in this struggle to bring more minority ownership, diverse perspectives and independent voices to the media. We need to make media consolidation an election-year issue. And we need to start talking about how to break up the giant conglomerates. Corporate news today -- with its propaganda pundits, horse-race election coverage, and celebrity gossip -- undermines our democracy. We must continue to speak out and demand that the public airwaves be used to actually serve the public. In just three weeks, thousands of people will be gathering together in Minnesota to build the movement for better media. You can join them at the National Conference for Media Reform, just visit www.freepress.net/conference. For today, know that you played a key role in the fight for better media for all. Thank you, Josh Silver Executive Director Free Press Action Fund

StopBigMedia.com is a project of Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund, on the Web at www.freepress.net.

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Stop Big Media action alert, help Senate negate FCC ruling

E-Activism can make a difference, nothing shows that more than the campaign by FreePress Action Network to overturn the recent FCC ruling to allow more media consolidation.

For a recap of the ruling, here's an excerpt of an article I wrote on Dec.18th. 2007, entitled Stop Big Media NOW!

The FCC's Republican Chairman Kevin Martin has effectively handed a sweetheart deal to Big Media, by overturning a 32-year-old rule that prevents a newspaper owner from also owning a radio or television station in the same city. Democratic commissioner Johnathan S. Adelstein called the new rule

"a monumental mistake" and, with Copps, called it a gift to media companies that will enable consolidation and restrict the diversity of voices on the airwaves."

When the idea of more media consolidation was put before Americans - during a series of public hearings and requests for public comment - more than 99 percent said bigger media were bad for them, bad for their communities and bad for our democracy.

Can you remember the last time 99 percent of Americans agreed on anything?


The CWA and AFTRA had called for a 90-day comment period after publication of the proposal in the Federal Register and also ask for an "open process" to address localism and diversity, that was not done and both unions have released statements expressing their disappointment.(continued)

How bad is it to labor, my opinion is below, in the first article I wrote at FreepressActionNetwork on Dec.19th. 2007

Now Big Media can hurt workers better

Hello, my name is Joe, I am a rank and file union member and on staff at the independent labor movement website UnionReview.

While we are primarily a labor news site, we also monitors news items that tie directly to the communication of the modern labor movement, such as Network Neutrality, the squelching of free speech and the spin doctoring of main stream media.

This ruling is a tremendous blow to the American working citizen. Information is power, the gathering of ideas based on different points of view is critical. When so very little can brainwash so many, what hope do we have.

Stand up people. Stand up for places such as Workers Independent News and Brain Labor Report, who continuously report on the airwaves about the struggles of the common working man and social injustices that never make it to the main stream.

Labor hardly got any attention in the main stream media before this was passed, and any if broadcast or published almost always portrays union workers as lazy, greedy and enemies of the public. A good case in point is an article I entitled NY Post spin-doctoring and the IATSE Stagehands, in which I retort the Rupert Murdoch News Corp.owned NY Post's so-called editorial about those greedy stagehands that closed down Broadway Thanksgiving week.

Does News Corp., Viacom, Disney, etc. have a stake in portraying unions as bad to the public? Absolutely, they have to negotiate with them at every step of their business, they are the employer, directly and indirectly of writers, screen writers, engineers, truckers, service employees, construction workers, screen actors, communication workers, stagehands, make-up artists and a host of other labor groups. It suits them well that there is a growing majority of ignorant people in this country that believe that unions are bad for them personally. They have the power to repeat in every media form their message and use the theory that if you continuously lie over and over the masses will believe it to be truth.

That suits Big Media and their corporations fine, by leveling the public against workers, by speaking generally without a fact basis, they perpetrate half-truths and outright lies that get embeded into the heart and mind of the public. By instilling hopelessness and fear they divide us into more and more fractions of smaller groups, pitting each against one another, dividing and conquering, making working people feel as if they are lucky to have a job, and that they must accept the final offer by employer.

This is not acceptable for my country, I thank the work of all those who contribute here, I regret that I have found this late, after seeing this at the AFL-CIO WebBlog, I couldn't help but get involved, firstly by writing a story on my new site Joe's Union Review the Anti-Union BlogSpot (theres reasons for the name), porting the story to UnionReview and MySpace, and by posting the links to our site and the AFL-CIO's story globally onto Labourstart, the global newfeed which reaches thousands of labor sites worldwide.

If we do not stop consolidation of the corporate main stream media and we give those same corporations complete control of the internet, our sources for free independent and diversified news and information will dry up.

Sites, such as freepress and UnionReview, that exercise our freedom of speech, that communicate important social matters and move people to take action may no longer be viewable or in the worst case scenario, have nothing to write about.

Thank you for putting this together, please contact me if anything I write at the site is erroneous, or if theres any other way I can help.

I leave you with this

"Such a small percentage try to make the world a better place, leaving the work to a scarce few. If those that did next to nothing did just a tiny bit, the world could be a better place for all." - me 7/7/07"

New Action to take via E-Mail

Dear Joseph, Congress can overturn the FCC's bad rules to further consolidate local media. Take Action Now Now's your best chance to stop media consolidation in New York. The Senate introduced legislation earlier this week that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to let the nation's largest media companies swallow up more local and independent news outlets. Congress has just 60 legislative days to pass this bill. By acting now, you can help make it happen: Veto the FCC's Big Media Handout We have Big Media to blame for local news that's steeped in celebrity gossip, corporate hype and sensationalism. If the FCC gets its way, you'll see your local news get even worse. The FCC's decision further consolidates local media markets, taking away the independence and diversity that comes from local ownership. Simply put, this is a sweetheart deal for a handful of companies that have been breaking media ownership rules for years with impunity. In December, 200,000 people called on their senators to take action against the FCC. The Senate has responded with a “resolution of disapproval,” (SJ Res. 28) a type of congressional veto that would throw out the new rules. Now we need to get another 50,000 citizens on the record supporting the Senate’s action. Tell Your Friends: Veto Big Media Companies like News Corp. and Sinclair already have shown their willingness to abuse the public trust for political ends. During this election year, when diverse, quality and unbiased information is essential for voters, we cannot allow Big Media to silence even more independent voices. It’s our turn to use our collective grassroots power to stop Big Media and make sure that our airwaves are used to better serve the public. Onward, Alexandra Russell Program Director Free Press http://www.freepress.net/ http://www.stopbigmedia.com/ P.S. Learn more about this important legislation at: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/blog Take action on this important campaign at: http://free.convio.net/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=243 Tell your friends about this campaign at: http://free.convio.net/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1109

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