LOS ANGELES – Protesters around the country Thursday urged federal regulators not to allow large media companies to increase their control over television, radio and newspapers.
The demonstrations were staged four days before the Federal Communications Commission is to consider eliminating many restrictions on media ownership.
In Los Angeles, about 60 people marched outside talk radio station KFI with signs reading, “No Choice, No Voice: Reclaim Our Airwaves.” KFI’s owner, Clear Channel, is a target of deregulation opponents because it is the country’s largest radio station chain, with 1,200 stations, or about one of every nine in the nation.
“We’re frozen out,” said Karen Pomer, a member of the group Code Pink, which organized the protest. “All of this is benefiting conservative voices.”
In New York, about 150 people picketed outside Clear Channel station WWPR, including Sherry Bender, 45, a physical therapist who said consolidation would put democracy at risk.
“We’ll have only one parent company preprogramming everything we read and see and hear across the United States and it will be one-sided,” Bender said.
Thursday protests also were planned at Clear Channel stations in a dozen other cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco.
Protesters say Clear Channel stifles diverse points of view by programming local stations with national shows, but as spokesman for the San Antonio-based company said media coverage of the protests belies that assertion.
“Americans today have more diverse choices for entertainment, news and information than ever before,” said Andrew Levin, Clear Channel’s senior vice president for government affairs. “Radio is the only medium I know where the customer can switch providers at 60 mph.”
At a hearing Monday in Washington, the FCC is scheduled to consider easing restrictions on owning multiple media outlets in the same city. Another proposal would raise an existing market cap that prevents any one company from owning a combination of TV stations that reaches more than 35 percent of U.S. households.
Opposition to relaxed rules has brought together a wide variety of groups, from celebrities such as actor Richard Dreyfuss to the National Rifle Association. Proponents include large media companies such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns television stations as well as the Fox network.
The FCC’s two Democrats oppose the changes, while its three Republicans – including Chairman Michael Powell – support them.
Powell has said the regulatory changes are needed to reflect a market altered by cable TV, satellite broadcasts and the Internet. If the FCC fails to act, outdated rules will be swept away by court challenges, he said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
