community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Call to Action: STOMP THE FCC
by David Meieran
Sunday, Jun. 01, 2003 at 11:01 PM
dmeieran@123mail.org
Protest the FCC media give-away if they vote on Monday
WHAT: Protest FCC's decision to further deregulate the media, if (and ONLY IF!) they decide to do so on Monday, June 2.
WHEN: 6:00pm, Monday, June 2, the day the FCC is expected to modify broadcast ownership rules.
WHERE: Federal Building, corner of Liberty and Grant.
WHY: It is widely believed that the FCC will vote in favor of the changes on Monday despite widespread opposition. For more information about the FCC proposals, see the IndyPgh front page story.
HOW: Bring radios and tv's, either broken or functional, as well as mainstream newspapers. We won't be needing them anymore.
see http://www.heartofdarkness.org/stopthefcc for more info and ideas.
[note: the stopthefcc site was moved to a new server, and is now working.]
www.heartofdarkness.org/stopthefcc/
they voted. now we protest.
by David Meieran
Monday, Jun. 02, 2003 at 12:06 PM
dmeieran@123mail.org
"WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- In a contentious 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission agreed Monday to allow broadcasters to buy more television stations and to let one company own newspapers and TV channels in the same city.
The move, which pitted the FCC's three Republicans against the two Democrats, casts aside decades-old government regulations and could spur more media industry mergers and acquisitions."
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Chant of the day:
"True democracy needs free speech,
But the FCC?s put that out of our reach"
www.heartofdarkness.org/stopthefcc/
And Who heads the FCC?
by Order of the New World...
Monday, Jun. 02, 2003 at 8:36 PM
In case you didn't know..
The Chairman of the FCC is Michael Powell
-That's Michael Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell.
hhhmm.....
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-251314.html?legacy=cnet
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2001/nf20010123_691.htm
Slightly off topic
by B*A*F
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 1:25 PM
The Arabic language has no "p" sound, therefore "Colin Powell" is pronounced "Colin Bowel" Good for lotsa laughs at the Mid-east "peace" summit.
Monopolies
by Matt Galt
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 3:58 PM
Any "monopoly" can be toppled merely by providing a better product. The problem with radio is defining what makes a better product. An easy example of an upstart company becoming large and challenging a beast is in the fast food industry. For example, Subway is poised to surpass McDonald's as the nation's number one fast food chain because rather than serving mcnuggets containing chicken skulls, they serve lowgrade processed deli cuts that are slightly healthier and tastier.
Back to the radio, the reason monopolies like Clearchannel start in the first place is because, as mentioned they are a public service station, and the public is, to be blunt, stupid. How else can you explain that the most popular songs in America contain three four-line verses, three choruses, and a nauseatingly repetetive drum machine beat. Right now, it seems as though the majority of people like drivel, so drivel is exactly what they deserve and receive.
This, of course, is fine by me. I delight in knowing that my preferred style of music, polka-trance-classical-ska-punk-metal-indyrap-spoken word, is not readily available to most people (Actually, I think I invented this myself the night I came home liquored up one night and couldn't figure out how to work my record player).
The point in all that is that I like Clearchannel because it keeps people dumber than me.
Public Service?
by B*A*F
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 4:04 PM
Unfortunately, the auto-DJ can't issue disaster warnings as recenly illustrated by the train wreck and chemical spill in the midwest last week. There was only one maintainace employee for six CC stations, and local residents could not be advised about the chemical spill.
that last thing
by schnell
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 5:55 PM
do you have a link to any news sites regarding that chemical spill story? that's appalling, but i'm inclined to be skeptical.
Monopolies don't topple so easy.
by Order of the New World...
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 6:12 PM
The notion that a monopoly can be toppled by providing a better product is fundamentally flawed...
If your not the big guy, it matters not how good a product you have, the big guy will buy you out and carry on churning out what it wants you to want.
Beating a monopoly is not so simple, that's the reason why monopolies are meant to be illegal.(however, the mainstream media is currently a 'virtual' monopoly, which is basically no different - just 'legal')
The notion that there is a free market in the media is ludicrouse. It's a free market for those who own the media. The days when you or I could start a radio station and make a profit are no more. It's now a closed market in real terms, and a 'free' market for anyone with money to burn.
Thought for the day:
If monopolies are not meant to exist, how come there is only ONE Monopolies Commision?
minot, north dakota
by David
Tuesday, Jun. 03, 2003 at 11:08 PM
the chemical spill story was widely reported...search for minot, north dakota and clear channel. here's an excerpt from a random news article (richmond news):
January 2002 - when a train derailment leaked thousands of gallons of ammonia in Minot, North Dakota, creating a dangerous toxic cloud, town officials were unable to activate an emergency warning system because six of the seven local stations had recently been bought by Clear Channel and were on "auto-pilot" so there was nobody to answer phone calls from local officials attempting to warn citizens of the danger. "Economies of scale" might save corporations money, but they dictate decreased staffing and result in dangerous gaps in our information infrastructure. The New York Times reported that 300 people were hospitalized, some were partially blinded and local pets and livestock died.
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