The Iowa Caucuses Are Here

Caucuses of the Democratic and Republican Parties will be held Monday January 16th.  This is a great opportunity to raise awareness of media issues that affect all of us.  The National Black Caucus of State Legislators has passed four resolutions that are model planks for Party platforms.  These resolutions were proposed by Iowa State Representative Wayne Ford.

 1. A Resolution In Support Of Increased Funding And Federal Support For Public Broadcasting
2. A Resolution Supporting Municipal Provision Of Community Broadband
3. A Resolution To Encourage Competition And Speed The Deployment Of Advance Communications Networks On A Non-Discriminatory Basis
4. A Resolution In Support Of Diversity In Media Ownership

Resolutions can be found here (pages 85-93) and article from Free Press is here.

The Resolution in Support of Diversity in Media Ownership reads:

"WHEREAS, freedom of the press and public access to diverse media are prerequisites for a functioning democracy; and
WHEREAS, the broadcast airwaves are owned commonly by the public and should be managed to serve the public interest; and
WHEREAS, adherence to the highest journalistic principles is a public trust; and
WHEREAS, the public interest is best served by the availability of a broadly diverse range of viewpoints; and
WHEREAS, media diversity is seriously threatened by further consolidation of media ownership in an already highly concentrated market; and
WHEREAS, increased consolidation has made it more difficult to expand minority ownership of broadcast media outlets, a key driver of diversity in news and cultural programming; and
WHEREAS, deregulation of radio ownership rules under the 1996 Telecommunications Act caused unprecedented consolidation, dramatically decreasing competition, reducing local accountability and content diversity; and limiting access to the airwaves for local artists, community groups and public officials; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission approved an unprecedented loosening of public interest limits on media ownership in June 2003 only to see it overturned by the Courts after millions of people across America from every political orientation voiced opposition; and
WHEREAS, despite the fact the courts rejected these rules, the Federal Communications Commission will soon reconsider an unprecedented rollback of media ownership regulations which protect competition, content diversity and local accountability in our media; and
WHEREAS, the elimination and weakening of these regulations are likely to reduce competition, the quality of local media coverage, local accountability, diversity of content, diversity of voices, and the amount and quality of news coverage in broadcast and print media across the country, while providing windfall profits for a small handful of corporate media owners; and
WHEREAS, we recognize that as citizens in a democracy, we require public access to a diverse range of media voices and messages in order to participate fully in our community's shared social, cultural and political life;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE 29TH ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE NATIONAL BLACK CAUCUS OF STATE LEGISLATORS, ASSEMBLED IN WASHINGTON, D.C., DECEMBER 7 - 11, 2005, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators supports the following measures:
-We urge the Federal Communications Commission to resist attempts to loosen public interest limits on media ownership and further urge the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to protect content diversity and press freedom by retaining and strengthening existing media ownership regulations, including regulations that limit the number of broadcast stations one owner may hold; and
-We urge the Federal Communications Commission to hold public hearings scheduled by the Localism Task Force to truly understand how media consolidation has adversely impacted communities across the country; and
-We urge the Federal Communications Commission and the Congress to take necessary steps to encourage and facilitate increased minority ownership of media outlets."

Media Ownership rules are also at issue in Springfield Missouri where a small cable company, Cable America, challenged the broadcast licenses of stations that it says are functional duopolies.  Story is here.

Media Minutes from Free Press are here.