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Company description::
(Portland, OR May 17, 2004) City Club of Portland, in partnership with other local and national organizations, will hold a town hall meeting to explore the connection between media and the local community on June 24 at the Oregon Convention Center.
Federal Communications Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein are expected to appear among a panel of public interest advocates and broadcasters (to be announced) to discuss recent FCC rulings and future legislation. A central feature of the evening will be the opportunity for citizens to testify as to how local media are serving the public interest, localism and diversity.
Last June, in a contentious 3-2 vote, the FCC drastically loosened media ownership rules. Under the new regimen, one company would be able to own a market’s monopoly newspaper, monopoly cable company, eight radio stations and two (perhaps three) major television stations. Copps and Adelstein were the two dissenting voices on the commission.
Following this decision, FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell called a series of six official, nationwide FCC Localism Hearings to discuss how local broadcasters were serving their communities. The purpose of those hearings is to gather information from consumers, industry, civic organizations and others on broadcasters’ service to their local communities. Two have already occurred, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Antonio, Texas, where hundreds of citizens testified. The next will be held on May 26 in Rapid City, South Dakota, at which Powell, Copps and Adelstein will hear testimony from members of the public.
For details, visit www.fcc.gov/localism.
Though this Portland town hall is not an official FCC public hearing, testimony given here -- as well as at town halls to be held in Albuquerque, Detroit and Miami -- will be submitted as comment on the agency’s Localism Task Force docket.
This series of town halls is co-sponsored by Free Press, a nonprofit media watchdog organization that is sponsoring additional hearings around the country in order to encourage a wider policy debate, especially in light of sweeping changes expected from Congress’ proposed 2005 Telecommunications Act.
Russell Newman, research coordinator for Free Press, suggests that this measure will have implications well beyond media ownership. At issue is likely much more, he says, such as who controls the wires through which citizens receive information, who controls access to information on the Internet, how citizens may (or may not) use the information they obtain, the way the public spectrum is utilized and beyond. The shape of the entire media system for years to come is about to be determined, he notes.
The June 24 town hall meeting in Portland will begin at 5:30 PM in Oregon Ballroom #204 of the Oregon Convention Center at 777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. The event is free and open to the public. No advance registration is necessary.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Media are encouraged to attend. Sign in at the registration table on the day of the forum. To arrange pre-event interviews with panel members, representatives of City Club, Free Press or other sponsoring organizations, contact City Club communications coordinator Tim Krause at tim@pdxcityclub.org or 503-228-7231.
ABOUT CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND
City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education- and research-based civic organization dedicated to community service, public affairs and leadership development. Through weekly Friday Forums, citizen-based research reports, special programs and issue committees, City Club examines issues of importance to the Portland metropolitan region, the state and society as a whole. Membership is open to everyone. For more information about City Club of Portland, visit www.pdxcityclub.org or call 503-228-7231.
ABOUT FREE PRESS
Free Press is a national nonpartisan organization working to increase informed public participation in crucial media policy debates, and to generate policies that will produce a more competitive and public interest-oriented media system with a strong nonprofit and noncommercial sector. For more information about Free Press, visit www.freepress.net or contact Research Coordinator Russell Newman at 413-585-1533, ext. 12.
ABOUT THE FCC’S LOCALISM TASK FORCE
The FCC’s Localism Task Force will play a critical role in gathering empirical data and grassroots information on broadcast localism and advising the Commission on concrete steps it can take to promote localism in radio and television broadcasting. The Task Force will:
conduct studies to measure localism and the efficacy of the Commission’s localism rules;
organize a series of public hearings on localism;
advise the Commission on recommendations to Congress this fall relating to the licensing of thousands of additional low power FM radio stations;
make recommendations to the Commission in the fall of 2004 on how the Commission can promote localism in television and radio;
advise the Commission on legislative recommendations to Congress that would strengthen localism.
For more information, visit http://www.fcc.gov/localism/ or contact the Task Force at 202-418-7777 or localism@fcc.gov.
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