The FCC has announced plans to vote on whether or not to allow big companies to own even more media in the United States by the end of 2007. Below is the statement of Prometheus Radio Project founder Pete Tridish on the FCC's rush to judgment:

"The Prometheus Radio Project would like to express its concern about recently announced plans for the FCC to vote on changing the protections against consolidation of media ownership.

We continue to oppose the weakening of these rules, which defend the public from unchecked corporate power in media. In the 2003 lawsuit, Prometheus vs. the FCC, decided by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the court ordered the FCC to reconsider the ill-advised changes to those ownership rules that were passed by Chairman Michael Powell.

In the time line currently being proposed by Chairman Martin, we do not believe that the Commission will be able to circulate it's conclusions based upon the comments submitted and fully address the demands of the remanded decision. We appreciate the opportunities for public comment. However, these public hearings have been announced to the public on extremely short notice and often held in the middle of a weekday. Reflective of whirlwind Washington DC scheduling, the scheduling of these hearings has not been considerate of the schedules of most working people, employed outside the world of media policy. Despite this significant inconvenience—if not hardship—thousands of citizens have made it out to show their displeasure with the direction that the FCC has taken in dismantling these important media ownership rules.

We also believe that the media ownership proceeding should not be resolved until the results of the localism task force are fully integrated into the ownership proposals at the FCC. A false split between ownership and localism was established in the structure of the proceeding, and that separation must be redressed in any final version of the rules.

The airwaves do not belong to corporations, entities that hold licenses allowing them to utilize the resource. The airwaves are owned by all of us. Setting a reasonable set of limitations on ownership is not a burden to those who have the privilege of operating broadcast signals for the public benefit. The only people that support elimination of these rules are those who stand to gain financially. Though their views may seem loud and widespread to the ears of Washington, DC decision-makers, the reality is that they are by far in the numerical minority among the American people. We call on the Commissioners of the FCC, based on the evidence available and the testimony of the public, to retain the current ownership rules and devote their time to creating more opportunities for Americans in media—through making more low power radio licenses available, preserving net neutrality, expanding cable access, utilizing unlicensed spectrum, and through seizing other opportunities to promote the diversity of local voices.

The Prometheus Radio Project is an activist organization dedicated to helping community groups around the world build their own community media institutions. We have worked to build, protect, and expand the low power FM radio service, to stop media consolidation with media reformers across the nation, and to facilitate the technical learning and building skills of diverse local communities, from farmworker groups to civil rights organizations, as they build their own radio stations across the United States. Learn more about our fight for independent media at http://www.prometheusradio.org.