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Summary
The Media For America (MFA) campaign is working closely with inter-faith church
groups, media educators and seniors to involve one million additional citizens
in the growing public lobby for media reform by engaging them in specific activities
associated with the 2004 presidential election campaign. The
MFA website is constructed for use by people with no knowledge whatsoever
about media reform and encourages them to support the immediate re-appointment
of Jonathan Adelstein to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Background
Revelations in the past year that major news organizations have failed to adequately
cover several serious issues such as the war in Iraq and further relaxation
of media ownership rules have created an unprecedented opportunity to make media
reform an election year issue with great implications for the revitalization
of republican democracy.
Media policy, normally an obscure issue prone to special interest manipulation,
has suddenly become an issue in this year’s election for three key reasons:
- More than 2 million citizens expressed strong opposition to the FCC and
Congress following the controversial 2003 media ownership ruling.
- Citizens in ever-greater numbers are attending local meetings organized
via the Internet and becoming involved in grassroots political activities.
- Least known but most significant of all: For the first time in seventy years,
not one but TWO FCC commissioners have taken a spirited stand for media rules
and regulations in the public interest.
MFA was launched by John Boyer and Henry Kroll after teaming up at the National
Media Reform Conference held in Madison, Wisconsin last November. After initial
involvement in public affairs programs for PBS, both have extensive experience
in media education, media policy reform and community outreach. For more information
about them and the MFA campaign, go to www.mediareform.org.
Action Plan
MFA was established in February, 2004, to encourage many more concerned citizens
to join the remarkable public lobby of roughly 3 million supporting media reform
during the months before the November election by working with all members of
the newly formed Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition (PIPAC) to re-appoint
Jonathan Adelstein to a full term on the FCC.
MFA is also working with three key groups, Unitarian Universalists for a Just
Economic Community (UUJEC), the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME),
and Seniors For America (SFA) to:
- Convene local meetings with members of other church groups, citizen organizations,
and media activists to start a letter writing / e-mail / telephone campaign
urging the reappointment of FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
- Using toolkits provided by PIPAC and others, form small working groups to
visit their local broadcast TV stations, cable TV companies, and radio stations
seeking a formal pledge to devote more resources and airtime to covering candidates
and issues in this year’s election, and find out how much money they
are making on political advertising.
- Report back their findings for Internet dissemination and discussion.
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