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Creative Voices 3Q Newsletter 2008-10-22 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" October 22, 2008 Contents:
* November 4 – Election Day, Please Vote
* November 4 – Supreme Court Takes Up Critical Indecency Case
=============================================================== Creative Voices is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and thus does not endorse candidates for office. We do, however, heartily endorse well-informed voting, and so we encourage you to compare the tech, media, and telecom policies of Senators Obama and McCain. Obama: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/ McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/cbcd3a48-4b0e-4864-8be1-d04561c132ea.htm Creative Voices’ supporters may be interested to know that former FCC Chairman Michael Powell is the chief technology advisor to Senator McCain. During his stormy tenure as FCC Chairman, Powell aggressively eliminated reasonable limits on media ownership while presiding over the greatest consolidation and concentration of media in American history. He also dramatically expanded the FCC’s role in censoring radio and television. As Creative Voices advocated vociferously – and successfully – before Congress and in the courts, Powell’s misguided attempts to reduce limits on media ownership while expanding limits on free expression were both contrary to the law and the public interest. Ironically, in Congress, it was Senator John McCain who led a successful effort to rollback some of Powell’s more extreme efforts. And Courts of Appeals have reversed and remanded many of Powell’s other initiatives, finding them “arbitrary and capricious” and therefore unlawful. Now, press reports speculate that Powell will be in line for a high-ranking position in a McCain administration. Don’t forget to vote!
=============================================================== On Election Day, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Fox v. FCC, the government’s appeal of the victory of the networks and Creative Voices, as an intervening party, in the Second Circuit overturning the FCC’s "fleeting expletives" decisions as "arbitrary and capricious" and contrary to law. We look forward to participating in this critical free speech case on behalf of creative media artists and the general public, educating the Supreme Court justices about the huge "chilling effect" caused by the FCC’s arbitrary decisions, and urging them to uphold the Second Circuit’s well-reasoned decision. Our brief to the Court is available on our website. We’re honored that former FCC Chairs Newton Minow and Mark Fowler, together with other former FCC Commissioners and officials, have weighed in with us in urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Second Circuit's decision. In their brief, they bluntly tell the Court: … we have been dismayed by a series of recent [FCC] decisions that have transformed a hitherto moderate policy of policing only the most extreme cases of indecent broadcast programming into a campaign of regulatory surveillance that will chill the production of all but the blandest of broadcast programming. … In pursuit of a policy of protecting children against exposure to extremely offensive language, the Commission has embarked on an enforcement program that has all the earmarks of a Victorian crusade. At Creative Voices, we continue to make the case against this "Victorian Crusade" and for reasonable and restrained broadcast content regulation that is consistent with the First Amendment rights of creative media artists and the American public. We ask you to generously support our work as we take this important case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
=============================================================== We’re pleased to report that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned the FCC’s indecency fine for Janet Jackson’s "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl half time show, as Creative Voices had urged in a filing with the Court. The government has not yet decided whether to appeal the FCC’s latest loss in its indecency crusade to the Supreme Court. Of all the praise for this common sense decision, the most unexpected came from Ken Ferree, who at the time of the Commission’s decision was Chief of the FCC Media Bureau. Wrote Mr. Ferree: Perhaps it is time to read the handwriting on the wall: the guardians of our First Amendment freedoms in the courts are not going to allow the FCC to play the role of media supernanny. A free and vibrant, even if occasionally coarse, marketplace of speech is the cornerstone of a free society. We allow government to meddle in that marketplace at our peril. Ken, welcome to the fight.
=============================================================== "Synergy" is the buzzword media potentates and their Wall Street backers have invoked for over a decade to justify their rampant consolidation and concentration of our nation’s media. Combining a disparate bunch of content creation and distribution assets, they argued, would create giant, highly-competitive media conglomerates in which the "sum was greater than the parts." These highly-efficient conglomerates would, they assured us, deliver more, better, and cheaper media, benefiting the public interest. This snake oil, peddled by the highest paid lobbyists in DC, and accompanied by outsized campaign contributions, found sympathetic ears in the White House, Congress, and at the FCC. In 2002, we founded Creative Voices to ask, like the little boy in the Emperor’s New Clothes, "Synergy? What Synergy?" We never saw more, better, or cheaper media. Did you? Instead, we saw independent, original, and diverse voices that enrich our media and culture forced out of the business, benefitting not the public, but the media potentates and Wall Street. We saw local media become un-local, if it didn’t disappear entirely. We witnessed a cautious, corporatized media, fearful of biting the hand that fed it, abdicating its Fourth Estate role as a watchdog of, rather than a lapdog to, our nation’s leadership. The cost of this media failure to our nation is incalculable. Now, at last, we’re pleased to report that even media potentates and Wall Street are renouncing the discredited concept of synergy. Check out this profile of Jeffrey Bewkes, the new CEO of Time Warner, as he tries to rationalize that flailing conglomerate. And in Big Media, Bad Idea, the lede is "[A]sk any shareholder not named Murdoch or Redstone—big media just isn't working." You get the idea. We believe the tide is turning against media consolidation. With a new White House, Congress, and FCC in 2009, we believe opportunity is now knocking for those who support more independent, vibrant, and diverse media. We hope you’ll support us as we continue this important advocacy.
=============================================================== We applaud FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin and Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein on their landmark decision to sanction Comcast, the nation’s largest broadband Internet service provider, for slowing down and degrading the BitTorrent file sharing service, which is used by Big Media companies like Fox and Time Warner, as well as independent media artists, to deliver video to millions of Americans. Comcast’s Internet knee-capping of BitTorrent, which competes against Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, in video distribution, is just one reason why we are so concerned over the issue of "Internet Freedom" aka "Network Neutrality," and believe so passionately that the government must take action to ensure that the Internet remains open to all. We believe Network Neutrality is vital in preserving the Internet’s "level playing field" and preventing the pernicious combination of content creation and distribution that has so stifled the mainstream media. And if you think we’re Crying Wolf, consider the comments of Neil Berkett, CEO of Virgin Media, the U.K.’s second largest broadband ISP, who recently dismissed network neutrality as "a load of bollocks" and warned that those websites and services not willing to pay Virgin an extra fee for speed would end up in the "bus lanes" of broadband delivery. That will be the demise of America’s future Internet as well, unless we pass reasonable rules to keep it open for all producers and consumers. We also extend kudos and support to Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Chip Pickering (R-MS) for giving a strong bipartisan launch to the House Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008. The bill requires the FCC to "guard against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by network operators based upon its source, ownership, or destination on the Internet." That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? We think so, too.
============================================================= We believe a new Administration, Congress, and FCC will present significant opportunities to reopen our nation’s media to independent, original, and diverse voices able to once again freely express themselves without fear of arbitrary government censorship. At the same time, our involvement in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, increasing government threats to free speech, continuing rampant media consolidation and concentration, and threats to an open Internet make this an extremely challenging time for Creative Voices. We greatly appreciate your tax-deductible contribution. Donations can be easily and securely made on our website. Or you can snail mail a check to our address below. Either way, be assured that your contribution will be put to good and careful use. Contributions of $100 or more receive a really cool gift. And see why the press is writing about our Free Speech Store. Where else can you buy a Woman's Top that warns "Do Not Remove Without Permission of the FCC"? Or a "What the FCC Happened to Free Speech" mouse pad and coffee mug? Or a "Murdoch: It's Australian for Monopoly, Mate!" shirt? Wear your support for free speech and media reform on your sleeve! You can reach the store from our website or blog.
We welcome your comments. And we urge you to pass on this newsletter to others who might be interested in learning more about us. Many thanks for your support. Please note our new mailing address below. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. Best, Jon
Jonathan Rintels
Center for Creative Voices in Media
(202) 903-4081 (voice) |