Thanks to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Congresswoman Diane Watson,
the toppers of Common Cause, Media Access Project, the Norman Lear Center, Center
for Digital Democracy, and many others, CCVM's conference "Can Media Artists
Survive Media Consolidation?", held at the Writers Guild Theater in Los
Angeles on March 13, was a tremendous success. These prominent members of the
public interest community joined the present and former toppers of AFTRA and
WGA, as well as other prominent members of the Creative Community, to discuss
the impact of media consolidation on the artists who create America's entertainment
media, as well as the implications for the American public, our nation's arts
and culture, and our democratic values.
Several speakers stressed that media consolidation threatens the vitality of
our nation's arts, culture, and democratic values and called for added safeguards
to protect and promote freedom of expression and diversity of viewpoints and
voices on the public airwaves. The conferees urged media artists and members
of the public to effectively organize and immerse themselves in media issues
and also debated future strategies to protect and promote access, creativity,
competition, diversity, and artistic freedom in the media.
CCVM Executive Director Jonathan Rintels opened the conference by asking if
the conference title "Can Media Artists Survive Media Consolidation?"
was "too apocalyptic?" After citing considerable data as well as expressions
of concerns about media concentration from top media moguls Jack Valenti, Peter
Chernin, Barry Diller, and others, Rintels concluded by asking, "if what
brought together so many prominent representatives of the public interest with
so many prominent representatives of America's media creators, for perhaps the
first time, is not the question of whether America's media artists can survive
media consolidation, but whether America's democracy and culture can?"
In his excellent and enthusiastic Keynote Address, FCC Commissioner Jonathan
Adelstein asserted that because of consolidation "the artist gets crushed."
A media conglomerate's efficiency might benefit its bottom line, "but the
public gets the short end of the stick. They get less local content, they get
less creativity, they get less quality, they get more of the same homogenized,
predigested, fast-food-like material."
Congresswoman Diane E. Watson, Chair of the Congressional Entertainment Caucus,
drew a direct link between "unfettered media conglomeration" and the
explosion of indecent material on the public airwaves. She called on "folks
like you working outside Capitol Hill to keep up the pressure for a national
debate on the future of media."
Other speakers discussed the lack of local news coverage, the lessening of
opportunities for independent producers to sell TV programs, homogenization
of programming, lack of free and creative expression, and the threat media concentration
poses to the number and quality of jobs in the entertainment industry.
"Everyone has something to be mad about," declared Common Cause prexy
Chellie Pingree.
But Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project professed that he was "optimistic
for the first time in a very long time," citing the two million comments
filed by the public with the FCC against further media consolidation, the votes
in Congress against the FCC's new media rules, and the stay granted by a federal
court preventing those rules from taking effect. "The public at large really
knew that somehow this was dangerous to democracy. And their voice was heard.
And that is ultimately a very optimistic message."
CCVM believes the work done and the relationships forged at this important
and timely conference will ensure that media artists' voices figure prominently
in the national debate over media consolidation. By working closely with the
public interest community, media artists can play a vital role in preserving
in America's media the original, independent, and diverse creative voices that
enrich our nation's culture and safeguard its democracy.
A video of the conference is now available in a 2 DVD set, free for a contribution
to CCVM of $50.00 or more. To make a contribution, click on the DONATE button
below.
Successful LA Conference Springboard for Future Action
