Past, present FCC commissioners outline media issues

Published: 2005-05-16

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Two current members of the Federal Communications Commission were joined by two former commissioners to describe the current state of media in the United States and to suggest ways the media can improve to better serve the public. "We have suffered through 30 years of watching the public interest be gutted," declared current FCC commissioner Michael Copps. Media companies, he added, have been given "a green light for consolidation. Fundamental protections have withered and died. They have been dismantled in favor of some blind reliance on marketplace forces." Copps and the other commissioners spoke at a May 14 symposium during the May 13-15 National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis. The meeting was attended by 2,500 people, most of whom work on media issues in their local communities.

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