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Updated: Thursday, December 20, 2007
Published: Thursday, December 20, 2007 |
Contact:
NABJ Communications
(866) 479-NABJ
NABJ to Congress: Reverse the FCC's Media Consolidation Decision
Commissions vote limits opportunity for minority media ownership and localism
WASHINGTON, December 20, 2007 - The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) calls on the U.S. Congress to reverse this week's decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in allowing corporate ownership of both print and broadcast media in the same city.
Despite a loud public outcry, on Tuesday the FCC voted 3-2 to relax a 30-year-old rule that prevented this kind of media monopoly. Dedicated to promoting fairness in media coverage and expanding entrepreneurship opportunities for journalists of color, NABJ strongly believes that media ownership should reflect the racial and ethnic make up of society and such a decision prohibits such diversity.
"Is the fourth estate to be sold to the highest bidder?" asked NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "Congress cannot allow the FCC to limit diverse voices and further prevent ownership opportunities to minorities."
In a letter this fall to FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin, NABJ took issue with his desire to lift the ban on these types of media takeovers, citing their impact on minority owners and journalists.
With increasing media consolidation the number of minority owners will steadily decrease, wrote Ciara. The Commission has a responsibility to maintain its public interest obligations and in order to do so, there must be safeguards to ensure station leadership and programming is as diverse as the communities they represent.
Following the decision, Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives and Senate proposed legislation reversing the FCC's actions.
"It becomes a major problem when you see that in a nation where 34% of the population are people of color, minorities own less than 10 percent of media outlets, said Ernie Suggs, NABJ Vice President of Print. "NABJ will reach beyond the press gallery to congressional members and ensure this vote is reversed and our freedom of speech is not sacrificed by higher profits."
"The American people deserve to get their news from a variety of sources," said Kathy Times, NABJ Vice President of Broadcast.
The nation's largest minority journalism organization is committed to increasing the number of black journalists in management positions and encouraging black journalists to become entrepreneurs. Since 1975, NABJ fights for balanced coverage of the black community and society at large.
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.
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