Forum Post: Media Reform
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 2:40 p.m. EST by occupythegreenparty
(157)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
some reform listed in the Equal Access Amendment. Should I add this to the Equal Access Amendment or make it it's own demand. Borrowed from another organization so please speak up regarding any changes.
D. Free Speech and Media Reform
Independent, critical media are essential to an informed and healthy democracy. Citizens must have ready access to news and information to make responsible informed choices as voters and to carry out their other duties of citizenship.
The United States’ original communications policy was the 1st Amendment. Freedom of the press was guaranteed in the Constitution because an exchange of ideas and an unfettered debate were considered essential components of a democratic society. Today, however, government policy is designed less to enhance public deliberation than to boost the profitability of media corporations.
Our media laws and rules promote the formation of huge media conglomerates while discouraging competing voices. As a result, the mainstream media is increasingly cozy with the economic and political elites whom they should be investigating. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints in the mass media. With U.S. media overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, investigative journalism is in an alarming decline.
In response, Greens will strengthen citizens’ influence over the broadcast media, break up the dominant media conglomerates and boost the number of community and non-profit news outlets, all to fortify the media’s crucial watchdog function and to help create a more diverse and lively exchange of ideas in America.
Since governments too often have an interest in controlling the flow of information, we must constantly guard against official censorship. In our society however, large corporations are a far more common source of censorship than governments. Media outlets kill stories because they undermine corporate interests; advertisers use their financial clout to squelch negative reports; powerful businesses employ the threat of expensive lawsuits to discourage legitimate investigations. The most frequent form of censorship is self-censorship: journalists deciding not to pursue certain stories that they know will be unpopular with the advertisers.
Green Solutions
1) Promote greater public control and oversight of the public airwaves.
10) Ensure net neutrality, so that Internet users can access any web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider.
11) Ensure free and equal airtime for all ballot-qualified political
candidates and parties on radio and television networks and stations. 12) Provide generous public funding for Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television and National Public Radio (NPR) to ensure high-quality news and cultural programming with the widest possible range of viewpoints.
13) Prohibit commercial advertising targeted to children under 12 years old, as well as advertising in public places such as schools, parks, and government buildings.
14) Oppose censorship in the arts, media, press and on the Internet. Reform the Federal Communications Commission so that it is responsive and accountable to the public at large, not just to lobbyists and commercial interests.
15) Overhaul the 1996 Telecommunications Act, with a new focus on promoting diversity and true competition, and preventing consolidation.
16) Reduce mailing costs for non-profit and independent magazines and journals, and eliminate them for those that receive less than 20% of their revenues from advertising.
17) Promote policies to expand investigative reporting on federal, state and local issues.
18) Promote policies to encourage the people of the United States to watch less television, and instead to spend time with their families, friends and neighbors, and to engage in myriad other constructive, artistic or healthful pursuits.
19) Create a publicly-controlled “Audience Network” empowered to take airtime from commercial television and radio stations, to broadcast a variety of non-commercial cultural, political, entertainment, scientific or other high-quality programs.
Quadratic Function Taxation for electromagnetic spectrum and domain name allocation. Free basic internet access for all with IPv6 multicast support.
Green Solutions
10) Ensure net neutrality, so that Internet users can access any web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider. 11) Ensure free and equal airtime for all ballot-qualified political candidates and parties on radio and television networks and stations. 12) Provide generous public funding for Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television and National Public Radio (NPR) to ensure high-quality news and cultural programming with the widest possible range of viewpoints. 13) Prohibit commercial advertising targeted to children under 12 years old, as well as advertising in public places such as schools, parks, and government buildings. 14) Oppose censorship in the arts, media, press and on the Internet. Reform the Federal Communications Commission so that it is responsive and accountable to the public at large, not just to lobbyists and commercial interests. 15) Overhaul the 1996 Telecommunications Act, with a new focus on promoting diversity and true competition, and preventing consolidation. 16) Reduce mailing costs for non-profit and independent magazines and journals, and eliminate them for those that receive less than 20% of their revenues from advertising. 17) Promote policies to expand investigative reporting on federal, state and local issues. 18) Promote policies to encourage the people of the United States to watch less television, and instead to spend time with their families, friends and neighbors, and to engage in myriad other constructive, artistic or healthful pursuits. 19) Create a publicly-controlled “Audience Network” empowered to take airtime from commercial television and radio stations, to broadcast a variety of non-commercial cultural, political, entertainment, scientific or other high-quality programs.
No one else has any info about media reform? No one is a part of a group that is working on this?