CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION EMERGENCY ALERT: July 7, 2003 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org There are a couple of time-sensitive matters pertaining to the U.S. media that we would like to bring to your attention. One is a notice of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing to be held on July 8 pertaining to the FCC's new rules on radio ownership and the positive example that low-power FM could set in that new regulatory environment. The second is a notice sent by Bob McChesney, president of Free Press, regarding a very real chance that we have to override the FCC's deregulatory agenda--if we act quickly this week. (Illinois residents: Ask for Mark Keam in Dick Durbin's office. In Peter Fitzgerald's office, ask for Robin Colwell. Those are the telecom staffers for those Senate offices.) ---- Media Ownership (Radio Consolidation) Full Committee Hearing Tuesday, July 8 2003 - 9:30 AM - SR-253 Description: Full Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, July 8, immediately following the Nominations hearing at 9:30 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The hearing will focus on the Federal Communications Commission's new rules on local radio ownership. Senator McCain will preside. Witness list will be announced at a later time http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=831 The Prometheus Radio Project sent the commerce committee a briefing on low power FM radio, hoping that LPFM might serve as a good example of successful, locally-oriented media. Hopefully, McCain will talk about LPFM as a good example in his introduction tomorrow. ---- A message from Robert McChesney and John Nichols: Big media is getting bigger and our democracy is at stake. As you know, a month ago the FCC dramatically relaxed media ownership regulations, suffocating the cornerstone of American democracy: a free, fair, and open public debate. Because one million Americans raised their voices against the FCC decision, the Senate Commerce Committee recently sent a bill to the Senate floor for a vote that would roll back many of the rules. Today the challenge is to get that bill to the floor of the Senate and House for a vote. Take 3 Minutes to Stop Media Monopoly: Phone It In. Call your Congressional representatives and demand that they support the rollback. One phone call from a constituent is more effective than scores of email petitions. Go to www.mediareform.net/stopthefcc and follow the easy steps or read on for more information. (Don't worry, you don't need to know your Senators' or Representative's names, only your zipcode.) "Roll Back the FCC" legislation now has 38 supporters in the Senate (out of 100). We need 51 for passage. The House bills have the overlapping support of 65 cosponsors on HR 2462 and 146 on HR 2052. We need 216 for passage. The http://www.mediareform.net/stopthefcc website will tell you if your members of Congress are currently supporting rolling back the FCC. If they are supportive co-sponsors, then thank them for their support and ask that they keep the bill alive. If they not a co-sponsor, ask them to become one. (suggested script provided online) Want to learn more about this issue and media reform? Go to our new organization called Free Press at www.mediareform.net. Join Free Press. Call Congress. Please send this email along to anyone else you think might be interested in having a healthy democratic media system. Robert McChesney & John Nichols Free Press MediaReform.Network ---- This is an emergency alert from Chicago Media Action, a Chicago activist group devoted to media issues. To unsubscribe from this mailing list, simply send an email requesting removal to mailinglist@chicagomediaaction.org Chicago Media Action, P.O. Box 14140, Chicago IL 60614-0140 Call toll-free 1-866-260-7198. Web: www.chicagomediaaction.org; email: cma@chicagomediaaction.org