Re: [IRCA] Media Reform Bill Introduced

[LEE FRESHWATER <amlogbook@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry, Don't get your hopes up...It will never get out
of Committee, let alone to the floor for a vote.

lee


--- N0UIHEric@xxxxxxx wrote:

>      
>
_http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/071405mediabill.html_
> 
>
(http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/071405mediabill.html)
>     
> Media Ownership  Reform Act of 2005 Would End Media
> Consolidation, 
> Provide For Wide  Array Of Information Sources To
> Public      
> Washington,  D.C. - In an effort to restore
> integrity and diversity  to 
> America's media system, Congressman Maurice Hinchey
> (D-NY) today  introduced the 
> sweeping Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005 (MORA). 
>  Hinchey, who is the 
> chairman and founder of the congressional Future of 
> American Media (FAM) Caucus, 
> authored the bill to fix what he sees as a  broken
> media system in the United 
> States in which only a select group of  individuals
> get to determine what 
> information Americans can receive via  television,
> newspaper, radio, and other 
> media. 
>  
> "The current state of todayâ??s media  system
> threatens the ability of our 
> democracy to function because it does  not allow for
> the widest possible 
> dissemination of information from  diverse and
> antagonistic sources and shrinks the 
> marketplace of ideas,"  Hinchey said. "The Media
> Ownership Reform Act tackles the 
> issue of media  consolidation head on and implements
> new standards for a 
> diverse media  that will ensure Americans have
> access to a wide array of ideas and 
>  information."
>  
> MORA is a broad measure that seeks to  undo the
> massive consolidation of the 
> media that has been ongoing for  nearly 20 years. It
> restores the Fairness 
> Doctrine, reinstates a national  cap on ownership of
> radio stations, and lowers 
> the number of radio  stations one company can own in
> a local market. It further 
> reinstates the  25 percent national television
> ownership cap, requires 
> regular public  interest reports from broadcasters
> and provides for more 
> independently  produced programming on television.
> The bill establishes new public  
> interest obligations to ensure broadcasters are
> meeting the needs of local  
> communities and requires increased and sustained
> public input and outreach  so that 
> Americans have a voice in the programming they 
> receive.
>  
> "From the recent debate over public  broadcasting,
> to the uproar that 
> followed when the FCC tried to weaken its  media
> ownership rules in June 2003, it is 
> clear that Americans want a  diverse media that is
> responsive to local 
> communities," Hinchey said.  "Unfortunately, the
> consolidation of the media has 
> created a system that  is less diverse and less
> responsive to local needs.  It is 
> imperative  that the Congress take action to fix
> this broken media  system."
>  
> Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA) is the  principal
> cosponsor of Hinchey's 
> MORA measure.  Now that Hinchey and  Watson have
> introduced the measure, they 
> plan to recruit other House  members to sponsor the
> MORA bill.
>  
> The FAM Caucus is composed of House  Members who
> believe in an accountable, 
> diverse, fair, and independent  media.  The Caucus,
> which currently has 20 
> members, is open to  members of both parties and it
> neither supports nor opposes 
> any particular  industry stakeholder.  The FAM
> Caucus' goal is to educate 
> members of  Congress and their staff about media
> issues before Congress and to 
> ensure  that all parties - especially the American
> public - have a chance to  
> participate in the critical debate over media 
> policy.
> 
> 
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> 


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