Judging from the SF Chronicle article reproduced at
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0512-01.htm (as posted here
earlier), there is a real issue regarding changes in limits on media
outlets -- one that has received many public comments -- but the email
message posted on this list to kick off this discussion greatly misstates
(exaggerates) the content and potential impact of the proposal. It is NOT
proposed that one entity could own NBC and ABC and CBS and other networks.
http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/ may be helpful to those who wish to look into
the real proposal. See esp.
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/powell/chairmans_response/. According to
the latter, a letter to Congress from Chairmal Michael K. Powell, some
18,000 comments were offered on the proposal, of which 17,000 were from
individual Americans. Quoting in part:
"As several of the letters recognize, the Commission has complied the most
extensive record ever for a biennial review. It is a record of over 18,000
comments (with over 17,000 coming from individual Americans), compiled over
an extended comment period. It is a record consisting of twelve empirical
studies of various aspects of the media marketplace that were separately
made available to the public for comment, as were the underlying data that
supported those studies conclusions. It is a record that has significant
input from the American public through individual comments, through public
hearings and through the unprecedented Commission action of reaching out
and asking the public how they use the media to access news, and public
affairs information. This Commission can proudly say that it has conducted
the most thorough and comprehensive review of our broadcast ownership rules
in their sixty year history. The Commission has spent the past several
months studying this record and the time to make judgments based on that
record is before us."
I express no opinion on the proposal or on Mr. Powell's comments, but
simply provide the above as more authoritative than an Internet chain letter.
Ken
----------------------------------------------------
Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D.
Research-Writing-Editing-Consulting
Ken@umbachconsulting.com
http://www.umbachconsulting.com
6966 Sunrise Blvd., #263
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
916-733-2159 -- voice
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