The FOX news affiliate in Las Vegas (KVVU) now has McDonald's product placement right smack in the middle of news programming.

The consolidation of our broadcast stations into large conglomerates, like that of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, means that it's more difficult to tell when they are doing something they shouldn't be, like putting McDonald's iced coffee in front of newscasters.

Who's going to call them out? The other broadcast station, also owned by a large media conglomerate, that is or has plans to do the same thing?

If most of us are getting our news from hundreds of outlets, but they are owned by only a handful of corporations, the watchdog media has morphed into an excited lapdog for wealthy special interests.

Take Action!!

Seymour Hersh published a new article in The New Yorker that details information about the CIA and other government agencies' secret involvement in Iran.

Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country's religious leadership.

Whatever your own view about our relations with Iran, having a very public and transparent conversation about whether we target this country is absolutely necessary.

The media is where we have discussions like this and while we have seen and heard bits and pieces, alternative news sources remain the best places to get informed.

War is certainly big business, but even bigger is the impact it has on the lives of our troops and their families, not to mention the international condemnation that may follow.

With consequences and sacrifices like these on the line, we need 1. transparency and 2. debate.

Big Media has to be held accountable for their decreasing willingness to hold government accountable.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass Senate Joint Resolution 28, a bill that will neutralize the FCC's efforts to relax media ownership laws in favor of Big Media.  This is an enormous win for citizens across the country and a strong signal that lawmakers are listening to us.  Our phone calls, emails and letters are making a difference and we have Common Cause members across the country to thank.  Next up: the U.S. House of Representatives.

Allowing the media industry to be owned by fewer individuals is bad for democracy.  Our Senators stood up for us and spoke loud and clear yesterday.  

Go team!!

Tonight the United States Senate took a major step forward to ensure our media system in America does not become even more consolidated than it already is.

The Senate approved by voice vote a "Resolution of Disapproval" of the FCC's new media cross-ownership rules. These rules, if allowed to stand, would have allowed increased media consolidation from coast to coast.

Media consolidation hurts our democracy, and Common Cause has been fighting for this Resolution vigorously.

Now we move on to the House where we have another big fight. However, we want to thank all the members of Common Cause who contacted their Senator to support this Resolution. Of course, now we need you to contact your House member!

As we begin to see more companies announcing lay-offs and our economy tripping toward an unknown future, our community media becomes even more important.

During rough times, whether Mother Nature is being extra testy or the local Citigroup lets go of 9,000 neighbors, newspapers, TV and radio must be real resources for people to talk about their problems and discuss the solutions.

As it sits right now, your local newspaper is more than likely owned by a corporation that owns many others across the country. The effects of this kind of change are lower news budgets, which in turn means more stories bought from the AP and little local coverage. The local coverage that is available is very light. Journalists no longer have much time for investigation, so increasingly stories come straight from press releases.

In effect, we are in the dark about what is really going on.

The capacity for community dialogue is low. Let's move forward and fight for more. Tell the FCC that you don't want any more media consolidation. Tell your Congressmen that we will no longer put up with media in the corporate interest instead of the public interest.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, April 2nd) the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to vote on the "Resolution of Disapproval" that North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan introduced last month (Senate Joint Resolution 28). With 19 bipartisan co-sponsors, including Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens, the vice chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, the resolution has a good chance of passing.

Our friends at Free Press have summarized the current situation over on their blog.

We urge you to take action today to let your legislators know they should support this measure to prevent further consolidation of the media.

Please take action today at www.commoncause.org/LetsDoSomething.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice gave their approval for Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s proposed $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., saying the deal was unlikely to lessen competition or harm consumers.

The transaction was approved without conditions.

We strenuously object to the proposed merger between XM and Sirius satellite radio. Approval of this merger would not only create an unfair monopoly, but could also spark a tidal wave of consolidation among media companies that would leave citizens' informational needs behind. Common Cause, and its 300,000 members and supporters, urges the FCC to put a halt to this merger or at the very least establish conditions to protect consumers now that the Justice Department has dropped the ball.

XM and Sirius received licenses to use the publicly-owned airwaves on the condition that the two companies would not merge. The FCC was presumably concerned then about the hazards of a monopoly in satellite radio service. That concern should be even greater today in the face of increased media consolidation in television, radio and newspapers.

The FCC must ask hard questions - and demand comprehensive answers - as to why the only two national satellite radio companies should be allowed to become one. This merger is about more than what price consumers will be charged for satellite radio, although that is an area that should be examined.

XM and Sirius must also explain how this merger will serve the public interest.

Will there be more diversity and more viewpoints aired?

Will programming that serves the educational and informational needs of both children and adults be promoted?

Will channels be set aside for public service?

Can citizens trust any promises of public interest programming made by the merged companies, given that XM and Sirius have broken other promises to consumers, such as development of interoperable radios?

Speak out at http://www.commoncause.org/StopXMSiriusMerger

In Washington today, two members of Congress from Washington State, Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) introduced the "Media Ownership Act of 2007" (H.R.4835) - the House companion to a Senate bill (S. 2332) sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.). This bill would overturn the Federal Communications Commission's vote yesterday to further consolidate the media, as well as set new standards for the FCC to be more responsive to public input on their decisions.

In a 3-to-2, party-line vote, the FCC eliminated the longstanding ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership," which prohibits a local newspaper from owning a broadcast station in the same market. The "Media Ownership Act of 2007" would prevent the FCC's hurried rule from becoming law by requiring more time for public comment and changing the timeframe for proposed revisions to be published. It would also go into effect retroactively, back to October 1, 2007.

Jon Bartholomew, Media Reform Campaign Coordinator for Common Cause, issued the following statement:

"The media is the public's source of information for the democratic process. The last thing the American public needs is for this information to come from fewer sources, which is what the FCC's decision yesterday will lead to. We are very pleased to hear that the House is coming together to do what is right for the American public and block further media consolidation."
"We are particularly pleased that this legislation would require the FCC to be more responsive to public input by requiring more time for public comment on any proposed new rules. The process the FCC uses for their decision-making needs to be reformed, and this legislation takes the first step towards that goal."

For more information on the bill: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/wa08_reichert/inslee.shtml