FCC's Jonathan Adlestein and Rep. Lousie Slaughter to host Panel On Media Ownership Rules

The debate over media ownership rules is coming to Rochester. Today at 7pm at St. John Fisher, the public will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding the ownership of local print radio and television stations. Recently the FCC voted to relax the restrictions governing the percentage of media outlets a single company could own in a single market. Diversity is essential to a free and democratic media.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 swept in massive deregulations for the radio industry. As a result Clear Channel Communications, which has strong ties to the Bush Administration, grew from 40 stations to over 1,225. This monopoly has lead to a strangle hold on the radio industry. As Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., recently put it, "The country ought to be pretty reluctant to repeat the radio [deregulation] experiment." This is one of the few debates being waged in America that Republicans and Democrats agree on.

The panelists are drawn from local print, radio and TV station in the Rochester area. This town hall meeting is a chance to voice concern over the changing landscape of what we watch, read and hear. Rochester Indymedia is a group of individuals dedicated to the cause of democratizing media. We provide a voice to those issues that are not normally covered by advertising supported news services. Our website operates on the principle of open publishing. Anyone is able to post their news story and others are allowed to comment on those posts, fostering a rich community based news service