Protect Independent TV, News, and Radio. Stop Media Consolidation!

10:14 am PST, Oct 30, JESSICA KOSTEK, Connecticut
FREEDOM OF SPEECH!(and thought) That is what this petition is fighting for. Do not let anyone sway your opinions, one should get their facts and come to their own conclusions and not let a major corporation decide what they should or should not believe in.

11:21 pm PST, Oct 29, Beth Hersey, Maine

5:18 pm PST, Oct 29, Leslie Fox, Texas

3:11 pm PST, Oct 29, Jennifer Tittle, Washington

5:20 pm PDT, Oct 28, Melanie Robinson, North Dakota

1:14 pm PDT, Oct 28, Janice Bang, New Jersey

8:25 am PDT, Oct 28, Jeremy Spohn, Pennsylvania

6:37 pm PDT, Oct 27, Lacey Bucl, Kansas
That is one good thing about modern america... wide variety, different perspectives on things available to the public ( at least mostly..) if this happens to the media, the companies that own all of the media outlets will have way to much power/influence on the people..

3:38 pm PDT, Oct 27, Angelica Santellan, California

7:52 am PDT, Oct 27, Farfan Enrique, California

4:44 am PDT, Oct 27, Katherine Ressman, Virginia
The consolidation of media affects the diversity of the art. In an area where most of the radio stations are owned by Clear Channel Communications, I've stopped listening to the radio. The stations all sound alike. Some even play the same songs at the exact same time or in the same sequence. Next, we're going to be hearing the same news stories on every station. It's time to stop the consolidation and stop the monopolies.

11:07 pm PDT, Oct 26, Jon C Marshall Sr, Kentucky

4:17 pm PDT, Oct 26, Aleksandra Takala, California
There are many voices in America. We all have the right to be heard, not just the money organizations or individuals. Freedom of speach is still in the constitution, isn't it? We want to hear from all who wish to speak, this is our right as citizens of the United States of America so written by our founding fathers.

10:08 pm PDT, Oct 25, Jessenia Cintron, New York
It is within our rights as Americans to be able to have free speech and without the outlets to voice our opinions are rights are being stolen and our voices ca not be heard. It is wrong that big companies with big money have the nerve to minimize to make moves like these. It is profitable for them to monopolize the media and will rob many people of their only opportunity to prosper.

2:25 pm PDT, Oct 25, Sunshine Holt, Illinois

8:42 am PDT, Oct 25, Name not displayed, California
I'm urging the FCC NOT to consolidate our local media because the BIG corporations would buy more and more radio and TV stations and it would also could leave fewer and fewer music choices for all of us!!!! Furthermore, it would lead to fewer job opportunities!

5:36 pm PDT, Oct 24, Alexa Weingrad, New York

4:29 pm PDT, Oct 24, Charlene Root, California

3:31 pm PDT, Oct 24, Jim Phillips, Tennessee
I am general manager at a radio station in east tennessee that was owned by wayne harris since 1978 ...wayne died of cancer a couple of years ago and his widow who had no knowlege of the radio business sold the station to bristol broadcasting in march of this year...although stating several times there would be no changes at the station....the people of newport, tennessee have lost their radio station to people who could care less about the their wishes....they changed the programing that completely took the local listening area out of any say....all they care about is the what money it makes....the man who bought the station was 81 years old and already owned 19 others....how could he know or even care about the people of newport, tennessee and the surrounding counties...in the past mr. harris listened to his listeners and programmed to their wishes and it paid off for them and mr. harris....there is no way all these big owners that have ruined radio could care about it....it's all about the money....not about the wishes of the people.....and the fcc board that relaxed the rules of the 7 ownership in the first place did not care about america's local voice.....but, i'm sure they're still spending the money from their new found friends.....

1:58 pm PDT, Oct 24, Name not displayed, New York
NO CONSOLIDATION.. At least act as if you care about the public interest.. Let us keep this..

10:55 am PDT, Oct 24, Name not displayed, Virginia

8:21 am PDT, Oct 24, Tony Ionno, Massachusetts

1:29 am PDT, Oct 24, Amy Clifton, Colorado

6:29 pm PDT, Oct 23, Elaine Bennett, Illinois
How has it come to this? Is there ANY thing left in the U.S. that HAS NOT been bought off or paid off for??? I am asking the FCC to PROTECT WHAT IS LEFT of our local and independent medias from being swallowed up by the GIANTS. And while I'm at it, please expand WCPT's 850am to 24 hour radio. Thankyou. PLEASE uphold what our forefathers worked SO hard to establish. I speak out for the thousands who don't have time to write in. Please do what is right by the people. Our united applause for you would be better than any corporate handshake...I guarantee it. In fact, let's reinstate the original regulatory standards!! Maybe we can even vote on it...with paper ballots. Thankyou, FCC. Thankyou for your time to these comments. And remember to consider it a thousand times over for those who agree but are unable to write in.

5:31 pm PDT, Oct 23, Meredith Vogt, California
Let us remember what is best for the "public interest" not the interest of these giant corporations.

9:41 am PDT, Oct 23, Benjamin Bowman, Ohio
Independent media is the only trustworthy media.

9:38 am PDT, Oct 23, Meg Hamilton, West Virginia

7:21 am PDT, Oct 23, Anisa Faruqi, Texas

9:19 pm PDT, Oct 22, Name not displayed, Kansas
Once upon a time, over-the-air stations were granted a public license to serve in the best interest, convenience, and necessity of the communities in which they operated. Diversity in media ownership is critical fair and equitable news reporting, community service, and advertising choices. This is essential on both the local and national levels Due to previous FCC relaxing of ownership rules, one corporation now owns all five commercial radio stations located in our small community of 20,000. Although one of those station's corporate papers carry a different name, everyone knows that it is just a dummy corporation. All are managed and controlled by the same people. The corporation also own several radio stations in a nearby community, which means that they already have a near monopoly on the radio market covering the largest population centers in our corner of the state. Local advertisers find this situation very frustrating. In addition, this corporation also owns the cable TV system in our community, as well as those in several other surrounding communities, and has recently purchased more cable systems in smaller area communities, and/or created working partnerships with other cable companies. Another division that they have created serves to sell advertising on various networks on these outside cable systems, as well as their own systems. This division also provides local community programming on their main system, with simultaneous cablecasting onto three of their closest systems. This programming consists of local news, public information programs, local government meeting coverage, long-form advertising, local sports coverage, and a variety of local programs, all of which are advertiser supported. This is all great for the local communities. However, these activities were not initiated by the cable company, or the parent corporation. They were actually started by others outside of the corporation. And, in fact, when the first public service programming of this kind was started in 1991 with a "collaborative" shared revenue agreement, the cable company was reluctant to share in any expenses. Outside entities also were responsible for the initiation of generating advertising revenues on various cable networks. The revenue stream was subsequently pulled by the cable company and transferred to the sales staff of their parent corporation’s radio stations. Later, in 1993, a newly formed company approached the cable company to greatly expand the scope of local services and entered into a Local Leased Access Channel Agreement. This company operated under this agreement for several years, providing an even wider variety of local programming services than the cable company does today. After several unsuccessful attempts to "buy out" the independent company, the parent corporation resorted to a refusal to renew the leased access agreement. It is my understanding that this is a blatent violation of FCC rules, yet it was done. The cable company and its parent corporation wanted to continue the programming on their cable systems, but they wanted to control all programming and revenues. While the parent company/cable company did generate revenues for themselves through the lease agreement, the independent company also represented direct competition for advertising dollars to their radio stations, and also to the advertising dollars that were generated through the sales of commercial airtime on the cable networks. The parent corporation and cable company, along with their sister radio stations, in effect forced a faction of advertising revenue competition out of the market. This does not serve in the best interest, convenience, and necessity of the communities served.

11:58 am PDT, Oct 21, Roberta Myers, West Virginia

10:21 am PDT, Oct 21, Dave Carroll, Pennsylvania

2:21 am PDT, Oct 21, Marcin Sztwiertnia, Poland

7:31 pm PDT, Oct 20, Jay'me Golden, California

4:41 pm PDT, Oct 20, Lorraine Thompson, New York

12:19 pm PDT, Oct 20, Phil Maillard, Canada

11:51 am PDT, Oct 20, Name not displayed, Illinois
The loss of independent operators hurts both the media business and its citizen-customers. When the ownership of these firms passes to people under pressure to show quick financial results in order to justify the purchase, the corporate emphasis instantly shifts from taking risks to taking profits. When that happens, quality suffers, localism suffers, and democracy itself suffers. Loss of localism undercuts the public-service mission of the media, and this can have dangerous consequences. The past two decades have witnessed the number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music, radio, cable, publishing and the Internet dwindle from 50 to less than two dozen--with power concentrated especially in 10 huge conglomerates.

10:52 am PDT, Oct 20, Jon Sis, New Hampshire
Lets rewrite these media ownership laws to bring back local news, especially on our am radio bands. And restore journalistic ethics through FCC rules whenever legislation proves to consolidate media into too much power in the hands of a few, stifling the voices of our plurality of views.

6:16 am PDT, Oct 20, Grey Revell, North Carolina

10:37 pm PDT, Oct 19, Name not displayed, Wisconsin

11:34 am PDT, Oct 19, Kelsey Duggar, Washington

8:35 am PDT, Oct 19, Courtney Babcock, Connecticut

6:17 am PDT, Oct 19, James Amodio, New York

4:36 am PDT, Oct 19, Muhammad Ali, Maryland
May ALLAH's Justice be done! All praise is due to ALLAH, The Judge and The Just!

5:57 pm PDT, Oct 18, Name not displayed, California
Preserve the independence of local media! And preserve internet neutrality!

8:05 pm PDT, Oct 17, Jinnie Eddings, Arizona

2:06 pm PDT, Oct 17, Chris Owens, New York
Consolidation is a step towards the conquest of our minds, of good taste, and of our freedoms.

1:33 pm PDT, Oct 17, Deborah Hillman, Indiana

10:19 am PDT, Oct 17, Name not displayed, Pennsylvania
We need to serve the public interest in our own communities. This cannot happen when owners are not living and contributing in the community they wish to operate business in.

9:09 am PDT, Oct 17, Erik Cirelli, Pennsylvania

7:54 am PDT, Oct 17, Kristy Homiston, New Jersey

7:41 am PDT, Oct 17, Name not displayed, Oregon

8:40 pm PDT, Oct 16, Heidi Andrade, Idaho

11:32 am PDT, Oct 16, Name not displayed, Arizona

9:32 am PDT, Oct 16, Edmund Davis-Quinn, Maine
We need to have diversity of media in this country .. The media has been diverse since Patrick Henry, and the federalists and anti-federalists. Please stop the movement of a few corporations owning all of the media ... There was once myraid cities with multiple newspapers in this country, and now only very few .. This is a tragedy, and drains the public of multiple opinions. Free the press as the 1st Amendment intended, and prevent the Media Monopoly from becoming more pervasive. Edmund Davis-Quinn

7:53 am PDT, Oct 16, Lindsay Mugglestone, California

9:21 pm PDT, Oct 15, April Carson, North Carolina

4:10 pm PDT, Oct 15, Jody Connolly, Illinois
I want the truth..not cover ups from big business..."All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

12:46 pm PDT, Oct 15, Katrina Wilson, Oregon

10:38 am PDT, Oct 15, Sheryl Aldridge, West Virginia

10:21 am PDT, Oct 15, Jacquelynn C. Inglese, California

9:44 am PDT, Oct 15, Ivars Bezdechi, California
The big media companies (Clear Channel, Emmis, Citadel and others) are stifling competition, and most important, format diversity.

11:38 pm PDT, Oct 14, Barbara A, California

9:01 pm PDT, Oct 14, Mitch Stanger, Connecticut

7:40 pm PDT, Oct 14, Barbara Guedea, Texas

6:41 pm PDT, Oct 14, R Wolfdreamer Fiorini, Oregon
How about being able to get the real news ... we are only getting what the Media " wants us to hear I want and we all deserve to hear the real TRUTH !!!

5:29 pm PDT, Oct 14, Merave Lupo, Israel

5:20 pm PDT, Oct 14, Name not displayed, New York
Independent media are a vital part of the balance of power in this country. The American people are already being manipulated by mainstream coverage. The more concentrated the media, the worse the manipulation. Please don't further erode our faith in the media.

2:52 pm PDT, Oct 14, CJ Sanbourn, Virginia