For "We the People" to govern ourselves a free,
democratic, diverse broadcasting is imperative, as
provided in the 1st and 14th Amendments.
"It is the purpose of the First
Amendment to preserve an uninhibited marketplace of
ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail, rather
than to countenance monopolization of that market,
whether it be by the Government itself or a private
licensee."
– Red Lion Broadcasting
v. FCC, 1969
Democracy is stretched thin when very few for-profit
conglomerates control the flow of mass
communications.
The Media Democracy Legal Project is preparing to
file a ground breaking case that constitutionally
challenges the present broadcasting monopoly.
Our case asks
for this constitutional remedy:
That our publically-owned airwaves must be
democratically managed with a much larger
decentralized public broadcasting sector, justly
financed by commercial users limited to 50% of the
public airwaves. Public interest and fairness rules
for broadcasters must be reinstated.
Our mission:
To use constitutional legal process to attain
democratic governance of our publicly owned airwaves
in accordance with the democratic ideals of our U.S.
Constitution.
The Media Democracy Legal Project is engaged in
building the popular political movement necessary
for the creation of diverse, democratic broadcast
communications.
Serving on the Board of
the Media Democracy
Legal Project:
The Rev. Paul Sawyer, Pasadena Robert Alpern, UUJEC, Sonoma County Dorothy Patterson, Oakland Glenn Terrones, Los Angeles Dan Fiske, Los Angeles Dr. George Gerbner, Philadelphia Paule Cruz Takash, Los Angeles
Our Legal Team includes: Jonathan Lubell, Manhattan Alan Korn, San Francisco Glenn Terrones, Los Angeles
Our Project Administrator is: Henry Kroll, San Francisco
Our Advisors Include: Ben Bagdikian, * Dean Emeritus,
UC Berkeley School of Journalism Liane
Casten, Chicago Media Watch Dan
Fiske, * National Coalition of Concerned Legal
Professionals Dr.
George Gerbner, Cultural Environment Movement Pam
Kelly, Former Director,
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic
Community (UUJEC) Paul
Kurtz, * Council of
Secular Humanists Joan
Levin, Chicago Attorney Mark
Lloyd, * Director,
People for Better TV Dr.
Robert McChesney, * Univ. of Illinois Ward
Morehouse, Program on Corporations, Law, and
Democracy John
Nichols, * Political Editor, The Nation Jeff
Perlstein, * Executive,
Media Alliance Professor
Peter Phillips,
* Project Censored Jo
& Nick Seidita,
* Alliance for Democracy Norman
Solomon,, * FAIR Dr.
Jerold Starr, * Founder,
Citizens for Independent
Public Broadcasting
*listed for identification purposes only
Q: What is the mission of Media Democracy Legal
Project ?
A:
Today the media is mostly owned and controlled
by a half dozen or so megacorporations. These
few giant corporations carefully control the
narrow range of allowable information, dialogue,
and debate in our "free society." This
monopoly of the flow of information is in direct
conflict with our Constitutional Rights.
Q: What can I do
RIGHT NOW
to help turn this around?
1) Clickto send a message
to President Bush and five Republican Senators
asking them to REAPPOINT FCC COMMISSIONER
ADELSTEIN to a full five-year term. With only a
few weeks left before Adelstein is off the FCC,
you must ACT IMMEDIATELY. Click
HERE
and for more information.
2) Click
HERE
to send a message to the FCC (provided by) asking them to DELIVER on the
Constitutional promise of Freedom of Information
and Media Democracy!
3) Click
to send a message to your local Pappas
Broadcasting Co. and the FCC (provided by) telling them that their
giving away airtime to one side is illegal and
is an abuse of the public trust.
4)
Stay informed! Bookmark and visit informative
sites like
that focus on the Legislative and Administrative
battles being waged to combat further
monopolization of the broadcasting industry.
Q: Why does there
need to be a
"Media Democracy Legal Project?"
A:
The public has a right to freedom of
information – it plays a critical role in
furthering knowledge, so that "we the people"
can be informed for governing ourselves as
promised in the Constitution. Legislative,
Administrative AND Legal battles must be fought
to reclaim the Freedoms promised in our
Constitution. The legal constitutional
challenge is a key vehicle for exposing the
dangers of monopoly media control of information
and raising awareness of our rights. A
Constitutional case is winnable!
Q: What does the
Constitution say about
Freedom of
Information?
A: Here is
an excerpt from our Case Description:
"The
ultimate role of the First Amendment's
declaration that "Congress shall make no law...
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press"
is to secure the diversity of information and
viewpoints necessary for the people's
self-governance. The Courts have recognized the
role of the First Amendment in securing
diversity necessary to a democratic system. In
Associated Press v. U.S., the Court stated:
"[The
First] Amendment rests on the assumption that
the widest possible dissemination of information
from diverse and antagonistic sources is
essential to the welfare of the public, that a
free press is a condition of a free society.
Surely a command that the government itself
shall not impede the free flow of ideas does not
afford non-governmental combinations a refuge if
they impose restraints upon that
constitutionally guaranteed freedom. Freedom to
publish means freedom for all and not for some.
Freedom to publish is guaranteed by the
Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep
others from publishing is not. Freedom of the
press from governmental interference under the
First Amendment does not sanction repression of
that freedom by private parties." "
Q: What would be the
Constitutional basis
of a "Media
Democracy" legal case?
A:
Monopoly control of the flow of information
violates of the Constitution's 1st Amendment
guaranteeing freedom of the press and the 14th
Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under
the law. The Telecommunications Acts of 1933 and
1996 allow a commercially dominant system of
broadcasting under an increasingly unregulated
private - ownership. Only a tiny minority
possess the means to broadcast and publish. This
inevitably leads to the monopolistic media
system now in place. Minorities, women and
low-income people do not have equal ability to
participate in this system and are therefore
deprived of basic rights under the Constitution.
This undermines the very foundation of Democracy
and ensures that power is concentrated in the
hands of the few.
Q: What would real
Media Democracy
look like, how
would it work?
A:
A real Media Democracy would reserve at least
50% of the broadcast channels for a diversity of
non-profit independent stations, both of great
diversity in opinion and representing the many
multicultural groups of this nation. Full
information and debate would be encouraged, as
well as a range of cultural and artistic
expression. To fund this important expansion of
democracy, the half of the air waves spectrum
open to commercial use would be leased at fair
market value for the tens of billions of dollars
per year it is worth. Elected national and
regional commissions would fairly distribute the
funds generated by this new broadcasting system
that would support non-profit broadcasting.
Q: What can I do to
help the
Media Democracy
Legal Project?
Liane
Casten, Chicago Media Watch
Dan
Fiske, * National Coalition of Concerned Legal
Professionals