i am in lurve with internet activism. i know, in many cases, it can be sort of a cop-out… but MoveOn and Voice4Change are actually getting people to put the pressure on their government representatives to serve the community interest instead of their own.
for example, i just called Rep. Bell’s office about the FCC rollbacks. it took less than 3 minutes, but i never would have done it if i hadn’t gotten the email you see below. and you can see, from the same email, that it makes a DIFFERENCE (finally).
*****
This week roughly 75 television network executives plan to descend on Capitol Hill to tell Congress they should go against the wishes of millions of Americans and allow more media concentration. We’ve been fighting the special interests and it is working.
Last week’s phone-in campaign brought in 17 new co-sponsors of the FCC rollback legislation in the House, and five new co-sponsors in the Senate. It reminded legislators that we are watching what they do, and that we’re not going away.
This week, the call-in campaign focuses on the House with a simple message: “We want a media that is diverse, competitive and engaged with the local concerns of our communities. We can only have that if House members support BOTH HR 2052 (Burr-Dingell) and HR 2462 (Sanders), measures that will overturn the FCC rule changes.” Your calls have gotten us this far. Now they can give us a win against one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington.
Please take three minutes to make the call now. Here’s how to get in�touch with your Representative:
Representative R. Christopher Bell (D)
DC Phone: 202-225-7508
Then please let us know that you’ve taken action by going to:
http://www.moveon.org/fcccall.html?id=1519-2830923-CpTshy2L.74Fv0f7rjpvCQ
We’re making great headway together. Thanks for being part of the�biggest media reform movement our country’s seen in decades.
Sincerely,
–Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org, June 16th, 2003
Here’s an update from Common Cause and Free Press:
The fight for media reform on the Hill has been energized this week by a phone-in campaign organized by public interest media activists.
Thousands of citizens from across the country called their Members of Congress and urged them to support FCC rollback legislation in the House and Senate. These efforts were well rewarded. In the Senate, the bipartisan Stevens-Hollings bill picked up five more cosponsors, Senators Bob Graham (FL), Hillary Clinton (NY), Jack Reed (RI), Saxby Chambliss (GA), and Norm Coleman (MN) for a total of 43 co-sponsors.
In the House, the Burr-Dingell bill (HR 2052) picked up 17 new co-sponsors (including 4 Republicans), for a formidable sponsor total of 166. The Sanders bill (HR 2462), picked up 17 new co-sponsors, including another Republican, bringing the total House support to 82. Congressional support for a roll back can be expected to rise substantially in the next two weeks before the August recess.
The past three months have represented a sea change in how media policy is made in America. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein estimates that nearly 2 million Americans have weighed in. Your active participation is the reason Congress may roll back the FCC ruling.
Please send this email along to anyone else you know who is interested in having a healthy democratic media.
For more information in the issue, go to http://www.mediareform.net or http://www.commoncause.org.
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