In addition to this month's Chicago Media Action newsletter, I have two announcements of note:

1. On the heels of last month's post about broadcast license challenges, we now have a dispatch published on the website of Project Censored on the same topic. Check it out.
   
   
2. The U.S. government's Federal Trade Commission is taking public comment on future policies regarding corporate antitrust. This can matter because the Biden administration has appointed FTC commissioners who have a history and interest in cracking down on corporate mergers. I already posted a comment, and I also shared a Chicago Media Action research project from 2010 to the docket. You can also see related commentary on my personal website for more inspiration, along with this excellent commentary by anti-monopoly activist Matt Stoller.
   
   We have a rare opportunity to shape policy on corporate mergers, antitrust, and big business -- whether or not they're media related. And this is definitely media-related: Many big media mergers require FTC approval, in addition to FCC approval. You have until September 18, 2023, to respond. Go to this page on the regulations.gov website, click the blue "Comment" button on the upper-left of the page, and add in your comments on corporate mergers, antitrust, and big business.

Thank you. Now, on with our feature essay, The First Domino, about an inspiring victory that took place twenty years ago this weekend.

I had been meaning for a long time to revisit the topic of broadcast license challenges, and a new challenge which just dropped made for an excellent opportunity to delve into the topic. You can read more in Reflections on broadcast license challenges, past and present.

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

Bobby Rush -- Black Panther Party co-founder, Chicago alderman, and decades-long Congressional representative -- stepped down this year after a long career in politics. Chicago Media Action had a number of interactions with Bobby Rush and his staff, some good, some less so. You can read more in this month's post, Reflections on Bobby Rush.

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

Twenty years ago to the day of this post, the Federal Communications Commission voted to squelch its remaining media ownership rules, marking a sea change in media, the FCC, and the public. I talk about it in It's been 20 years since the FCC's horrid media ownership rule rewrite.

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

We recently saw the end of an unsuccessful effort to put the longtime media and policy activist Gigi Sohn on the Federal Communications Commission. I talk about her, the campaign to squelch her nomination, and some possible next steps in Viva Gigi Sohn!

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

Two very impactful events on my life happened twenty years ago on this date -- one family-connected, one media-policy connected. I talk about them both in April 2, 2003: My Uncle and the Midwest Forum on Media Ownership.

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

My friend and fellow media activist Jen Angel died last month. I recount the tragedy of her passing, and a subsequent tragedy of the corporate media coverage of her passing, in an article here.

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.

We're in the month of quadrennial Chicago municipal elections (my ballot came in the mail today). Read more about Thoughts on media, democracy, and the 2023 Chicago municipal elections

If you wish to join the CMA mailing list, please email cma@chicagomediaaction.org. Thank you.