More than 500 Nashville residents joined country music legends at Belmont University's Massey Performing Arts Center on Dec. 11 to speak out against media consolidation.
The event, the second official Federal Communications Commission hearing, stretched to over eight hours.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said, "I can't think of a better place to go than Music City to hear various views on media ownership and its impact on the music industry.'
Nashville didn't disappoint. People came from at least six states to share their views with the FCC. The vast majority of the 170 who stood up to testify opposed any FCC effort to remove the last remaining curbs to media consolidation.
Read press from the Nashville event.
Listening Beyond the Beltway
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"If anyone tries to tell you that Big Media's push for more consolidation has gone away, don't believe it," said Commissioner Michael Copps. "They haven't gone away, and their lawyers and lobbyists haven't gone away either. So if we are going to go on to a broader national dialogue on the future of the media in our democracy, it will be because of citizen action from millions of Americans and testimony at hearings like this one." Listen to Commissioner Copps' full remarks (9.8 Mb mp3)
The event featured panel discussions with labor leaders, broadcasters, and some of country music's biggest names — George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Naomi Judd, Big and Rich, Cowboy Troy, Dobie Gray — who complained that radio consolidation was stifling creativity and sidelining real talent.
Big Radio is Bad Radio
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"The consolidation of the radio industry has kept me from playing on the radio," said country legend Jones. "You know sugar is sweet. But too much can kill you. I ask the FCC Commissioners not to let the radio industry consolidate any further so that my fans and my public can continue to hear my music. Please don't make it any rougher for recording artists like me or for tomorrow's rising stars." Listen to Jones' full testimony (4.4 Mb mp3)
"Big radio is bad radio," said Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America. "If left to their own devices, Big Radio is just going to get bigger and the music is just going to get worse. Somebody must save these people from themselves. It's time to let local radio be local again." Listen to Carnes' full testimony (5.2 Mb mp3)
Before inviting Commissioner Copps to try her chicken and dumplings, Grammy-award-winner Judd said, "You have five people on your commission who are going to be in charge of the future of media. I urge these five chosen commissioners to hear the voice of public interest before the voice of special interests."
"The days of an artist receiving regional airplay or breaking as a new act on radio are gone, and you are now considering making the situation even worse by letting some broadcast dynasties become even bigger broadcasting dynasties," Wagoner told the audience.
Fix the System
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Following the first panel, the four commissioners (Commissioner Robert McDowell cancelled his trip at the last minute) listened to concerns about the quality of local news and programming, lack of diversity on the airwaves, and the barriers placed on independent content and local control by Big Media corporations.
"These days, finding a local DJ is harder than finding a two dollar gallon of gasoline," said Bruce Bouton of the Recording Musicians Association (RMA) International. "And local musicians getting on the radio -- forget about it. Deregulation is slowly strangling the music business." Listen to Bouton's full testimony (2.1 Mb mp3)
"Are we here because people have been beating down your door with a burning desire for our media to go into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations? Of course not," said Lonnie Atkinson, a local Nashville DJ. "We are concerned citizens that are trying to believe that there are some parts of our system that are not broken. Please do not let us down." Listen to Atkinson's full testimony (2.2 Mb mp3)
A broad-based coalition of local and national groups worked to turnout the public to the Nashville event. They included the American Federation of Musicians, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), The Belcourt Theater, Center for Rural Strategies, Christian Community Broadcasters, Communications Workers of America, Consumers Union, EarthMatters Tennessee, Free Press, Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, Newspaper Guild-CWA, Prometheus Radio Project, Rainbow/PUSH, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Tennessee Healthcare Campaign, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Tennessee Independent Media Center, and WRFN Radio Free Nashville.
-- All Photos By Bill Larson
The marriage of Comcast and NBC is bad news for consumers. But Washington and Wall Street have already bought into the idea that it's a done deal. That's why Americans need to speak out now and stop the mega-merger!
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