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Remarks of Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein
Public Hearing on Media Ownership
Seattle, Washington
November 9, 2007
Thank you all for coming out on such short notice.  I am sure even hundreds if not 
thousands more people would have attended if you were given proper notice.  In my five
years on the Commission, I have never heard of a Chairman scheduling a public meeting 
on such short notice without consulting his colleagues, so this is unprecedented. 
In most cities, you could get away with slipping in and out quietly.  Usually, the 
local media outlets are owned by distant media conglomerates itching to get even bigger.  
For some strange reason, the media almost never gives much advance notice that the FCC
is coming to a particular city.  Could it be they have a conflict of interest?
For those who say media ownership does not matter, I say look at one man from 
Seattle: Frank Blethen.  His family has been here over a century.  He owns the local 
newspaper, and he cares about this community.  His newspaper gave this hearing the 
coverage it deserves every single day during this truncated advance notice period. And 
he had assistance on the ground from the dedicated and passionate advocacy of Jonathan 
Lawson and everyone at Reclaim the Media.  
If we let local voices like Frank Blethens get bought up by voracious media 
giants looking to swallow up even more local outlets, voices like his will be snuffed out 
forever.  Do you want big out-of-state companies to buy your newspapers and TV 
stations combined?  Are you satisfied with your local media today?  Do you think more 
consolidation is the answer?  
Well, we should listen to you rather than the media lobbyists back in the other 
Washington.  The law says we are to serve the public interest, not the interests of the 
media giants that seek to profit by using the public airwaves without serving the needs of 
the local community.  We are here in the real Washington, with real people who have 
suffered too much already from the mistakes we have made in D.C.
We have forgotten that the public airwaves belong to the American people.  You
are here tonight because you want to take them back.
Since 2003, Commissioner Copps and I have held two public meetings in Seattle.  
We heard your voices loud and clear.  These forums at the Seattle Public Library and the 
University of Washington were some of the most insightful I have ever witnessed.  You 
communicated your concerns with eloquence, wisdom and passion.  
Tonights meeting was literally scheduled at the last possible minute allowed by 
law.  It is more than coincidence that the same last-minute announcement was made for 
the Washington, D.C., localism hearing that was just held on Halloween.  This pattern 
points to a conscious effort to minimize turnout and to just check the box that these
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hearings were held.  The goal is to let big media have their way.  You are just a little 
speed bump along the road to further media concentration.  
Well, I do not see you as an obstacle. Commissioner Copps does not see you as an 
obstacle. And a strong bipartisan majority of Congress does not see you as an obstacle. In 
fact, you represent the people we are supposed to serve. 
I see your interests and community needs as the end goal in themselves.  
Unfortunately, judging from the way this hearing was arranged, it looks like the media 
conglomerates agenda is far ahead of yours at the FCC.  If you see a proposal for more 
consolidation made quickly after this final hearing, you will know your input was dismissed.   
But those of you who made it out here to the Great Hall are not about to let that happen.  Your 
views need to be accounted for in any proposal or decision we make.
You deserve quality local music, news and public affairs information.  Your great local 
musicians deserve to have their music played on local radio stations  during the times when 
people are actually listening.  Your own Scott McCaughey tells us that while Seattle is a huge 
national force in music, because of consolidation, even the most successful local artists are 
having a harder time getting airplay than their alt-rock antecedents.  
And minority communities deserve to be portrayed on the evening news in a manner 
that reflects their many contributions, not underrepresented, misrepresented or stereotyped.  
Women and people of color should be owners, and not just consumers or lessees, of broadcast 
media services.  
Women make up over half of the U.S. population, and minorities make up over a third.  
But women and people of color own broadcast stations at roughly one-tenth of their level of 
representation in the population.  Fewer and fewer media companies are gaining more and 
more control over the means of distributing ideas.  That means fewer small businesses, fewer 
women, fewer African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans can use 
the public airwaves to contribute and have their own voices heard.  That is a tragedy in a 
country in which diversity is our strength.
You have some great elected representatives watching out for you in D.C.  
Senator Maria Cantwell and Congressman Jay Inslee wrote us to ask that you be given 
four weeks notice for this event.  It was quickly ignored in an act of incredible 
insensitivity. Well, I know your representatives and their dedication to serve your 
interests. Their request may have been ignored, but they will not be.  My request to give 
you more notice may have been ignored, but I will not be.  Your communitys right to 
fair notice may have been ignored, but you will not be!  You are here tonight because you 
will not let your voices be swept under the rug as the FCC does the bidding of media 
conglomerates.  
Just yesterday in the U.S. Senate, a bipartisan bill was introduced with Senators
Cantwell, Dorgan, Lott, Obama, Snowe and others.  It would require the FCC to have a 
90-day comment period on any proposed media ownership rule changes and to conduct a 
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separate proceeding on localism and diversity with another 90 day comment period. It 
requires us to establish an independent panel on female and minority ownership, and to 
conduct, once and for all, a complete census of the number of women and minority 
owners of radio and TV stations.  After the independent panel makes recommendations, 
the legislation requires that we act on them before the Commission tries to change any 
media ownership rule. 
You can join in demanding that the FCC complete its localism proceeding before  not 
after  it moves on media ownership. And you need to demand that we properly study and 
support any changes we make with facts this time, not ideology or pre-baked studies.  We 
need to establish clear and quantifiable public interest obligations for broadcasters.  And we 
need to implement changes to expand the number of media outlets owned by women and 
people of color.  You can join me and your leaders in Congress in demanding that these 
policies are implemented before  not after  we change the media ownership rules.    
You have a big responsibility tonight.  You who are here speak for many millions 
of your fellow citizens across the U.S. who believe that media consolidation has already 
gone too far.  A recent survey found 70 percent of Americans see this as a problem.  By a 
two-to-one margin, they believe newspapers should not own TV stations in the same city. 
It turns out the same proportions of Republicans and Democrats, conservatives, 
moderates and liberals share these concerns.  That is reflected in the bipartisan group of 
panelists and elected officials joining us tonight.  Letting big media get bigger is not a 
partisan issue.  It goes against the grain of the American spirit we all share.  
Conservatives do not like media giants to gain too much power any more than liberals do, 
and never have.  So you are far from alone.  You are in the big majority!  
If the majority of the FCC opposes the majority of America in the name of the 
public interest, you will see a willful act of arrogance.  You will see a handful of 
unelected bureaucrats telling you we know what's in your interest better than you know 
for yourselves.  That will face a harsh judgment by your elected representatives on both 
sides of the aisle in Congress, with Washington State leading the way.
If all else fails, and this is not done right, Congress has special fast track 
procedures to veto any regulations put out by agencies like the FCC.  In 2004, the US 
Senate voted in an overwhelming bipartisan majority to do just that, but it got bottled up 
in the U.S. House.  Now, if in 2007 the FCC sides with the powerful few media 
companies over the public interest, Congress can quickly veto it.  Congress can send it to 
the dustbin of history where it belongs.  And I have no doubt your own elected 
representatives will lead the charge.  
So you, the people, have the last word.  And here tonight, residents of the Pacific 
Northwest have the last word.  So thanks for coming out.  Now, let us hear from you!