What a week for radio and talk about good timing. In the past 48 hours a new study was released revealing that talk radio is predominantly conservative. In addition, a bipartisan bill was introduced in both the House and the Senate seeking to expand the number of low power FM radio stations in cities and suburbs across the country. This is not about apples and oranges, this is about demonstrating the need for diversifying the radio and providing the means to do so. On the one hand we have a statistical analysis concluding just how politically one-sided radio broadcasting is followed by promising legislation that aims to open these airwaves up to local communities to regain fresh, diverse sounds.

Free Press and the the Center for American Progress confirms in its report, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," that talk radio, one of the most widely used media formats in America, is dominated almost exclusively by conservatives. It concludes that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. and suggests that diversifying radio ownership would lead to more diverse programming.

Tribune Company (TRB) is on the verge of an $8.2 billion deal to go private -- pending a decision by the FCC. Tribune needs the FCC to grant it a permanent waiver from rules that prevent a single company from operating both a major newspaper and a television station in a single city. Tribune currently has cross-ownerships in five media markets.

The Chicago-based company, which owns 11 daily newspapers and 23 TV stations, has temporary waivers to operate broadcast and newspaper outlets in the same cities despite the ban. With a sale, it would no longer have a grandfathered exemption from cross-ownership rules in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Hartford CT, and Fort Lauderdale-Miami.

Although the official FCC deadline for public input expired, the Teamsters Union, Media Access Project and Georgetown Law Center's Institute for Public Representation each filed comments demonstrating a mutual concern that this transaction would result in further suppression of local and diverse views.

Yesterday, several of our interns attended a hearing in the Senate about an important voting rights issue; I've asked them to share their observations here. - Kirstin

Yesterday the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a subcommittee hearing to examine S. 453, to prohibit deceptive practices in federal elections. The sponsor of 'Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007,' Senator Obama (D-IL), offered testimony in addition to Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Feingold (D-WI). These three proponents addressed the "shameful amount" of "despicable" deceptive acts that plague campaigns and elections, specifically targeting minorities, and the need for strong penalties to prevent this form of voter intimidation, fraud and deception. Currently, there is no statute on the books that makes it a crime to offer misinformation as a means to alter a voter's conduct and such trickery exists as a dirty yet effective political tactic.

Witnesses testified before the committee, and some of them gave first-hand accounts of voter intimidation and suppression. Maryland County Executive Jack Johnson and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler both endorsed this legislation because "the health of our democratic system depends on our ability to ensure that all citizens entitled to vote may do so."

Free Press released a 76-page study this week on media diversity, focusing specifically on women and minority ownership of radio stations -- or the lack thereof. The study, titled Off the Dial: How Media Consolidation Diminishes Diversity on the Radio, reviews the current state of radio ownership (predominately white and male), and the future consequences if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues to press pro-consolidation policies.

The findings, while powerful, are not surprising. Women own a mere 6% of full-powered radio stations but comprise 51% of the population. People of color own 7.7% of these stations while making up 33% of the population. Similarly, 15% of the population is Latino, but own only 3% of radio stations. The study also finds that women- and minority-owned stations are the most likely to air local content and diverse programming.

Former Senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards is the first candidate to publicly address telecommunications policy -- specifically, how we should best use the analog spectrum.

The what? As of February 2009, over-the-air broadcasting will switch to digital, and television stations will no longer be using their analog airwaves. What will become of the analog spectrum after February 2009 is a matter of great value to our democracy. The spectrum, also known as the airwaves, are a publicly-owned resource. They belong to you and me, the American people -- and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Congress ought to ensure that the public receives some benefit from this valuable resource.

John Edwards, acknowledging the significance of providing fair access to the public airwaves, wrote a letter to the FCC with the following suggestions:

A number of public interests groups are congratulating Mr. Edwards for addressing this issue and for raising the profile of the FCC, whose policies often remain under the radar. Spectrum policy is not always the most glamorous news topic, but what happens with our publicly owned airwaves is critical to ensuring that more Americans have fast and nondiscriminatory access to the world wide web.

The House recently passed a bill that will restrict commercial companies from owning banks. Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-OH) is not only the sponsor of this bill, but also the proud owner of a bank. Does this present a conflict of interest? Well, Congress does not seem to think so.

With the approval of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, Mr. Gillmor seeks to preserve the "golden age" of banking by preventing non-financial companies such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot from obtaining industrial loans, without "undermining the public interest." While this bill drew bipartisan support, it will nonetheless curtail competition with the banking industry...mere coincidence? Perhaps.

Common Cause press secretary Mary Boyle, quoted in the Toledo Blade, Mr. Gillmor's local Ohio paper, commented that "Mr. Gillmor receiving clearance to legislate on banking matters while he himself is a banker is more of a comment on Congress than on him." It is obvious that Mr. Gillmor has received the support of the banking industry and the independent federal regulators, however, the question still remains whether he is in pursuit of his own interests or those of his constituents.