Three Media Issues We Can’t Ignore in 2013

I’m not one to make predictions about the future of our media. I’m much more interested in prescriptions. Rather than talking about what we think might happen, let’s discuss what we agree needs to happen and how we might get there. The media isn’t just something that happens to us — it is something we can and must be part of creating and reshaping ourselves. Here are three critical issues we must tackle in the coming year.

Top Five Media Ownership Moments of 2008

As we prepare to usher in a new year, we have the perfect opportunity to review the top media ownership moments of 2008. It’s nearly impossible to catalog every one of them, but there are at least five worth mentioning. And while we’ve seen both ups and downs in 2008, the truth is, the media reform movement has never been stronger.

Here’s the countdown to No. 1:

Hopeful After 2008

The year 2003 holds a special place in the history of the media reform movement. That was the year when then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell tried to eradicate every media ownership rule on the books.

The public response was swift and powerful, with organizations on the right and left leaping to action, mobilizing nearly 3 million people to write letters to the Senate calling for a stop to media consolidation. In the end, the Senate and the courts acted to strike down the FCC rule changes. It was a watershed moment that introduced many new people to the politics of our media system.

However, while 2003 was a moment of crisis that catalyzed a movement, 2008 has been a year of movement building that proved to lawmakers and corporate lobbyists that media reform is here to stay.

National Day of Action: Tens of Thousands of Petitions Delivered

Yesterday, what began as a click on a Web site became a national day of action in which local community members from Phoenix, Ariz. to Bridgeport, Conn. marched into their representatives’ local offices and urged them to stand up for better media.

In nearly 50 cities and towns around the country, local citizens delivered tens of thousands of petition signatures calling on members of Congress to support the “Resolution of Disapproval” that would veto the Federal Communications Commission’s latest handout to Big Media.