Last night, I attended the FCC hearing on media ownership and diversity at the Rainbow PUSH headquarters in Chicago to give testimony on behalf of Common Cause.

Overall the industry presence there last night was virtually non-existent, at least for the first four hours, after which I left. After the FCC chair and commissioners spoke - 4 of them did - a panel of 14 was allowed 5 minutes of testimony each. The IL Association of Broadcasters had three there, all of them pretty lost in an overwhelming tide of concerns and passion. What struck me is the difference between many broadcasters and the rest of us as to what constitutes public/community involvement/ interest.

For example - promoting the local Lions Club pancake breakfast is wonderful - yet fundamentally different than airing/promoting/covering/initiating regular forums to discuss a broad range of community concerns such as zoning, school funding, long-term transportation planning, or programming featuring a variety of views on what is happening in local government and investing resources in serious investigative journalism.

Hundreds of average citizens who share our concerns about media ownership and diversity gave their testimony last night. Hopefully the FCC listens.

--Todd Dietterle is chair of Common Cause Illinois.