From FreePress.net: It happened. Today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his two fellow GOP commissioners approved new rules that will unleash a flood of media consolidation across America. The rules will further consolidate local media markets -- taking away independent voices in cities already woefully short on local news and investigative journalism.
In 2003, the FCC tried to do the same thing, but millions of people demanded that Congress reject the FCC's rules. And they did. It's time to do it again.
We need 100,000 people to get Congress to reverse the FCC's rules right now.
Sign our open letter to CongressThis is about whether we will have access to the information that democracy requires. It is about whether or not we'll have real news and local voices on radio, television and in the newspaper in your town. It's about whether the public airwaves will represent our nation's diversity.
Just yesterday -- spurred by your calls and letters -- 26 senators from both parties sent a letter to the FCC Chairman promising "to revoke and nullify the proposed rule" if the FCC voted to lift the longstanding ban on "newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership." But Chairman Martin did it anyway.
Congress has the power to throw out these rules -- and if 100,000 people demand it, they'll have to listen.
Take action now and spread the word.
Some say that nobody listens to letters like this. Well they definitely do, and it's a way you can truly help the cause with just a few clicks. Sign on now -- and get your friends to do the same.
Your actions are making a difference. Let's keep up the pressure. And stay tuned -- this fight is far from over.
Thanks for bringing us this far,
Robert McChesney
President
Free Press
www.freepress.net