Letter From Paul Sawyer, Chair of DMLP
March 13, 2002
Dear Democratic Media Legal Project Board Members, Advisors,
and Friends
We are at a very critical point in our struggle to save
our democratic media. In this world where media now dominate
most of what we see and hear, and thus think and believe.
This means that democracy itself is in the gravest danger.
Already a dozen or so huge telecommunication conglomerates
monopolize power over most movie production, record making,
book publishing, TV, radio broadcasting, and newspapers.
Now the Federal Communications Commission, in collusion
with conservative Federal Courts in the D.C. Area, propose
to loosen or even scuttle the already too lenient regulations
that control one owner having more than 35% of the national
market coverage, or cross ownership in both a TV station
and the newspaper of a city, or owning TV stations and the
cable franchise in an area. Just this week, a recording
artist’s coalition challenged the radio monopolies that
stifle their livelihood and a writers guild complained of
the monopolistic curtailment of their trade by both movie
and book publishing monopolies.
The narrow range of opinion and information that passes
for news and discourse, that basically propagates the big
corporate sell, war in defense of empire, and the power
of the well-to-do, is evidence enough of the give-away and
take-over of our publicly-owned airwaves. Oligarchies and
their bought politicians are in the saddle and they ride
we the people.
We the people. What a sweet phrase. We the people are the
constitutional governing body and these are our airwaves
the media ride. How do we get back effective power over
them. Not by parading the streets of Washington as angels.
Not by begging an FCC to enforce a Telecommunications Act
that was written by lobbyists of the National Association
of Broadcasters.--- not by waiting for the Congress who
are largely funded for reelection by these same corporations,
dependent upon their goodwill for coverage by their media.
No our constitutional challenge to the present system of
administering and allocating the use of the people’s airwaves
on 1st and 14th Amendment grounds, this is the only show
in town. And it must be backed by a growing media activist
movement. The best defense is an offense!
Right now this is going to take money. Gifts small and
big are needed. Most of our research is done, but we need
$30,000 more, right now to write up and file our case complaint
here in Federal Court in California. ASAP!
Each dollar for the next $1500. will be matched, so I'm
going to dig in deep and give $300 of that now. So along
with reading this letter, and the enclosed minutes from
our Board’s last meeting, and putting in your calendars
the May 11th next meeting of our Board; search your hearts
and your wallets to see how much you might be able to give
to jump-start our case. Then we'll go out and try to raise
the rest from the many folks, who know as we do, the dire
straits through which we perilously proceed.
Yours for the Democratic Media Legal Project,
Paul Sawyer, Chair
P.S. Great News ! Jonathan Lubell, our lead lawyer is on
a panel at an important St. John's University Conference
March 23rd, looking at the future of Media Freedom. On the
panel are Nolan Bowie of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government,
in addition to the Legal Counsel for the FCC. This will
give us a good opportunity of having our perspective heard
in an important forum. |
