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"The
truth is that media mergers have narrowed the range of information
and entertainment available to people of all ideologies."
- Conservative columist Wlliam Safire
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RECENT NEWS
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Sinclair to retire controversial spokesperson Mark Hyman
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Sinclair demands more from Iowa cable providers to carry its TV
stations
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IBLTV awaits FCC response to its petition against KGAN
click
here for more information
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Iowans
for Better Local TV are citizens of Iowa concerned
about the declining quality of news and current-affairs television.
We serve to raise awareness that
quality, civility, and fairness of broadcasts have plummetted
and that it weakens citizen participation in a democracy. And
we take action.
In
two decades of deregulation, FCC rules that served good citizenship
were gutted in the interest of corporate desires. It has only
resulted in more media consolidation, less local involvement,
more commercials, and radio and television that shocks and insults
rather than contribute to democratic participation. TV news often
ignores substantive issues while sensationalism -- the stuff of
ratings and profit -- thrive.
The
airwaves are the public medium through which a democracy operates.
It is a natural resource that does not belong to
a few wealthy corporations with their concerns for profit, but
to all of us.
Broadcasters
certainly have a right to profit. But because they monopolize
the public's airwaves -- shouldn't they also help Americans participate
in informative public discourse? How else can an a democracy of
informed citizens thrive?
IBLTV
is a grass-roots, non-partisan, organization, made up of farmers,
students, retirees, civil servants, nurses, teachers, and others
representing a wide slice of Iowa. But we are all committed to
restoring a media system promotes civility and citizen participation.
We believe the future of our society depends upon it.
Media
reform is not a partisan issue!
It is of concern to all who want to restore the connections among
people, communities, and the officials we elect to represent us.
It is essential to an informed public and a population that can
be united to address serious needs of our country. Please read
on: you'll see that members of the left, right, and center all
share these concerns.*
We
hope you will, too, and join in the effort of media reform.
* A considerable amount of media
and background information can be found on "The Issues"
section of our website.
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IBLTV
serves as a resource of information and public action. This
website contains much information on media problems and reform.
For example, see "The Issues" link, above.
And
we have been active in the community
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We have written guest opinions in local papers, appeared in
broadcast interviews, and have been invited to present information
about media issues to various groups.
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Our group has met with our U.S. House representative to present
our concerns about the media.
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We co-sponsored a public media-reform
conference that was held in Iowa City. It was organized
by Free Press and included participation of FCC officials and
the public.
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In our largest effort, we created a formal Petition to Deny
relicensing of a local TV station that has repeatedly demonstrated
poor service to our community. This Petition was submitted to
the FCC in December of 2005. Click
here for additional information.
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What
has happened to our media?
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Those
who advocated media deregulation promised the public all sorts
of better things as they gave the industry greater and greater
control over our airwaves. "The Market" would
produce Greater diversity. Greater depth. Better products. All
those promises have proven false. Deregulation has served corporate
interests very well and the public shabbily. Corporate media is
huge and wealthy.
And
much less responsible.
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"This
is the beginning of a campaign to galvanize America. We
need more and better news. Our lives depend on it."
Tom
Fenton, Senior
Correspondent, CBS News
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By
law, TV is to "serve the public interest" in exchange
for their free use of the public's airwaves. This FCC formula
was a sensible solution to a monopolistic enterprise that is the
dominant means of informing the public. Instead,
Big Media gives us "news" that sells and opinions that
enrage, leaving us all impoverished. Public interest has been
forgotten.
So
it's time for us to demand it back!
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"The
truth is that media mergers have narrowed the range of information
and entertainment available to people of all ideologies."
William
Safire,
New York Times Editorial; January
20, 2003
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Once
considered community anchors, local stations are being bought out
by corporations that care little about local events or values.
Worse, some impose centralized programming
that mocks local values and worsens the declining level of civility
afflicting us all. And it is happening right here! |
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As
our website details, one distant corporation, Sinclair Broadcast
Group, used its 62 TV stations to attack an Iowan solely because
he expressed views that countered the mean-spirited opinions they
force their stations to broadcast. And it has gutted local news
staffs -- in some cases down to zero. Sinclair's profits improve,
but public service worsens.
And in our pages, you'll
see that the problems of media consolidation and concentration
are not alarming just one group or citizens or just one party....they
are the concern of prominent Republicans,
Democrats, and independents who care passionately about restoring
a media system that again serves to inform citizenry and serve
the public good.
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"This
is the single most important discussion any American citizen can
be a part of."
John
Nichols, Addressing
Iowa's public meeting with the FCC. Iowa City, 5 Oct 05
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one-sided speech widely broadcast by an elite and aloof rich
is not the free speech
of our Constitution, but a distorted reading of First Amendment
rights that claims that Corporate Free Speech is the same as a person's
- yours! It's an abuse of their privileged use of airwaves that
belong to the public. TV stations make billions of dollars off our airwaves,
yet they pay not a penny for their use. And some, like Sinclair,
ignore the FCC's notion of "public interest" by forcing
its stations to air one-sided opinions, with no equal time given
to alternative or local viewpoints. They have turned local television into their propaganda
tool.
The consolidation and corporatization
of our media has occurred as FCC regulations have been repeatedly
relaxed over the past two decades. As Senator John McCain has
noted, many pro-business rulings have been blessed by Big Media
-- and even written by their lobbyists.
Those of us old enough have seen the days of serious news replaced
by entertainment, gossip, and advertisements spun as "news".
Its not just obnoxious, it threatens our democracy by failing
to provide enough information for us to act as responsible, active
citizens. Members of IBLTV want to fight this trend. We believe
the strength of our communities and, ultimately, our nation's
democracy depend on it.
To learn more, visit our "Issues"
page and check out related media reform pages that are listed
along the left margin.
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Iowans for better local TV
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