This Thursday, September 20th, the FCC will hold an official hearing on the issue of media ownership in Chicago. It will take place at Operation PUSH National Headquarters at 930 East 50th Street (on the corner of South Drexel Blvd.) in Chicago.

You can read more about why we are so concerned with media consolidation and localism by going to http://www.commoncause.org/MediaAndDemocracy.

People who live in greater "Chicagoland" are encouraged to go to this hearing because it's a rare opportunity to have the FCC hear your concerns directly. But, due to the actions of the broadcasters, if you want to testify, should should go as early as you can. The sign-up period will begin at 3:00, but often, the broadcasters send paid staff to wait in line as early as noon.

The FCC is coming to Chicago to hear what the PUBLIC thinks about media ownership, not what the media think. They already know what the media think. So, it's really rude for the media to try to dominate the hearing and prevent regular people from having their voices heard. Most people have to stay at work until 5:00 or so, but the media pay their staff to go sign up early.

This just reinforces why we need alternatives to the mainstream media. Media is the way we get our information to make informed decisions in our democracy. We need to ensure the internet remains neutral so we can access many sources of information easily. We need to retain and expand access to community media like Public Access TV and Low Power FM stations.

And of course, we need to ensure that the media do not become yet further consolidated into the hands of a few corporations that can control the majority of what we see and hear.

A healthy, diverse independent media is essential to our democracy functioning properly. Let's do what we can to make that a reality.