Imagine a 21st Century company town where a single corporation owns several TV and radio stations, the local cable system, major news weeklies and the hometown paper. That future may soon be at hand as the U.S. media system faces another massive round of consolidation following a February 19 federal appeals court ruling that weakens two of the last major regulatory barriers that limited the power of media moguls. The decision in the lawsuit--which was filed by four of the largest media giants, AOL Time Warner, NewsCorp, NBC and Viacom--declared the ownership restrictions "arbitrary and capricious" and not in the public interest.
Even before the latest court ruling, activists had begun planning actions and educational events designed to protest corporate media consolidation and advocate for the democratization of the communications industries. On March 22nd, a protest will be held outside FCC headquarters in Washington D.C. Mid-October will see a series of media-related events culminating in Media Democracy Day, an event largely based out of Canada in 2001 and expected to grow in 2002. Planners of the various media-related events in 2002 hope that global justice activists will increasingly see media reform and the growth of the independent media movement as integral components of their agenda.
Center for Digital Democracy
Broadband and the Future of Internet
Media Tank
The MediaChannel's Action Guide
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