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Sep 20, 2007 11:53 pm US/Central
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Hundreds Line Up Speak To FCC About Media Rules
Diversity And Ownership Of Concern To Many Chicagoans
by Suzanne Le Mignot
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Hundreds of people sounded off Thursday night before the Federal Communications Commission at a hearing in Chicago.
The agency regulates the industry and is holding a seven-hour public hearing on media ownership and diversity.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports, more than 200 people signed up to share their thoughts on diversity in the media. Chicago is the fifth stop on a six-city tour by the FCC aimed at getting input on local media.
"The purpose is to gather this public opinion so that we can use it to devise the rules that govern how many media outlets a single owner can control in one community like Chicago or nationwide," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
Minority ownership of media outlets was on the mind of many.
"I really wanted to find out or get an idea of what the FCC is going to do as far as to allow more people to own various radio stations, newspapers, things of that sort," said hearing attendee Derrick Smith.
Melody Spann-Cooper of WVON-AM and WRLL-AM, is the only African-American woman to own and operate two radio stations in the City of Chicago.
"If I can do what I've done with as little as I have," Spann-Cooper said. "Imagine if the playing field was level, just a tad bit, what I could do in this marketplace."
Once all the hearings wrap up around the country, the commissioners will review testimony and vote to see if ownership rules need to change, or stay the same.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)