I signed it.

  Snowqueen- basically what media consolidation does is it allows monied interests such as corporations to buy up multiple newspapers, televison and radio stations/networks, magazines, etc. They can then dish out the same propaganda through multiple vehicles and it will appear to be coming from different sources. It's kind of like a monopoly on information to a degree. It's very hard for dissenting voices to be heard in such an atmosphere unless they have the kind of money it takes to compete.

  When the "press" is controlled by people with an agenda they tend to promote that agenda while trying to appear to be unbiased news reporters. They then use their power to manufacture consent in the public for whatever it is they want to do (usually promote war for profit, elect their puppets to office, enslave more people, eat little babies and puppies alive, etc.).

  We're not going to stop them but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

  I signed it.

  Snowqueen- basically what media consolidation does is it allows monied interests such as corporations to buy up multiple newspapers, televison and radio stations/networks, magazines, etc. They can then dish out the same propaganda through multiple vehicles and it will appear to be coming from different sources. It's kind of like a monopoly on information to a degree. It's very hard for dissenting voices to be heard in such an atmosphere unless they have the kind of money it takes to compete.

  When the "press" is controlled by people with an agenda they tend to promote that agenda while trying to appear to be unbiased news reporters. They then use their power to manufacture consent in the public for whatever it is they want to do (usually promote war for profit, elect their puppets to office, enslave more people, eat little babies and puppies alive, etc.).

  We're not going to stop them but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

I thought this was already the case!!!! But ummm yeah, I'll sign it too.

more a$$ from those with cash...ugh.

signed.

Thanks guys! The goal is to get over 100,000 signatures to get congress to take more action--many pople in congress are against this--but not really moving to end it--if we can get enough people to speak up the better.

  The problem is, if someone in congress really spearheads this thing and pushes to take something away from the big media conglomerates that they want (more power, more money) they risk being targeted by that very same media in the future. Poke the beast with a spear and it may bleed a little but it's also likely to turn and devour you.

  It would be nice if we had representatives that worried more about the public interest than their own careers. Unfortunately, such people in American politics are few and far between.

SIGNED!! and i passed it on to some friends.

you should post this on the Space too!!

I just got this:

Dear Megan:

Thank you for your letter regarding media ownership.  I agree with you that we must ensure a diversity of viewpoints in the broadcasting industry.

Our nation’s media was built on the strength of independent voices.  It concerns me that as media conglomerates grow, these voices are increasingly stifled by the bottom line of large companies and cookie-cutter broadcast formats.  For this reason, on October 22, 2007, I wrote a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin J. Martin, calling on him to launch an independent review panel to develop proposals to further promote media ownership diversity.  You can view this letter at http://obama.senate.gov/files/fccmartin.pdf.

In 2003, the FCC approved new rules that would have accelerated the consolidation of large media outlets.  The rules would have allowed one company to own up to three television stations, the cable system, the local newspaper, and eight radio stations in a single media market.  The FCC approved these rules by a vote of 3 to 2 in a process that was criticized for a lack of public involvement (the FCC held only one hearing on this issue).

As a result of a groundswell of bipartisan opposition to these changes, the Senate passed a resolution to roll back the new rules by a bipartisan vote of 55 to 40.  In 2004 a federal court threw out the rules and required the FCC to begin the process of creating new media ownership rules.

Following an insufficient review, in December, 2007, the FCC adopted new ownership rules which promote greater media market consolidation.  This allows large media outlets to become larger, potentially cutting out small business, women and minority-owned firms. Minority owned and operated newspapers and radio stations play an important role in the African American and Latino communities and help bring minority issues to the forefront of our national dialogue.  However, the FCC has failed to recognize the vital role these outlets play in our democracy and has not done enough to further the goals of diversity in the media.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of S. 2332, the Media Ownership Act.  This legislation promotes transparency in the adoption of new media ownership rules by the FCC, and establishes an independent panel to make recommendations on how to increase the representation of women and minorities in broadcast media ownership.  I will urge my colleagues to push forward legislation that ensures any changes will be evaluated and modified in a transparent and inclusive process, and fully takes into account the interests of our women and minority-owned outlets, and communities.

Again, thank you for contacting me.  I hope you will stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

*******
I love how he hopes I'll stay in touch.  LOL.

  Hopefully things don't keep going this way...can you imagine FOX news being the most reliable source of news? Pretty scary. I stick with blacklistednews.com. Aren't there laws against one company (such as Time Warner) taking over? I thought that just maybe we all learned about the great depression and there were laws that made sure that wouldn't happen again. 

i think there is a law against the "monopolizing" of the newspaper/ media, or any business niche, but not any against the "bi-opoly, or tri-opoly"! ha.  there are only a handful of major corporations that run this country, with their hands in everything.  >:(