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Obama Statement on FCC Ruling to Expand Media Consolidation

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Michael Ortiz, 202 228 5566

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ruling to allow greater media consolidation across the country. This ruling will allow large media outlets to become larger, potentially cutting out small business, women and minority-owned firms.

Last week, Obama joined Senator John Kerry (D-MA) to call on FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin to postpone the vote to modify existing ownership rules. He also joined a bipartisan coalition of senators vowing to nullify the FCC's vote through legislative prerogatives if the Commission moved forward with the vote. In October, Obama called on Martin to launch an independent review panel to develop proposals to further promote media ownership diversity. And Obama cosponsored the Media Ownership Act of 2007 ( S.2332), introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), which would ensure openness and accountability in FCC media ownership rules and launch a review panel.

The text of the statement is below:

"Today the FCC failed to further the important goal of promoting diversity in the media and instead chose to put big corporate interests ahead of the people's interests. Minority owned and operated newspapers and radio stations play a critical role in African American and Latino communities and help bring minority issues to the forefront of our national dialogue. We must ensure that we have an open media market that represents all of the voices in our diverse nation, and allows them to be heard.

"I am disappointed that the FCC failed to meet its obligations to diverse communities and ensure that broadcasters are doing right by the communities in which they operate. Congress will not stand by and allow the FCC to move forward with these regulatory changes, and 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."