*Pages 1--2 from  Microsoft Word - 60072.doc*
 REMARKS  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 FCC  HEARING  ON  MEDIA  OWNERSHIP  LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 
 OCTOBER  3,  2006 


 Thank  you  all  for  coming  today.  I’ll  keep  this  short  because  I  came  here  primarily  to  listen  to  you. 


 I  just  want  to  emphasize  what  is  at  stake  here.  Our  media  is  precious.  It’s  how,  outside  of  our  strictly  personal  spheres,  we  speak  to  each  other,  inform  each  other,  learn 
 from  each  other,  entertain  each  other,  how  we  govern  ourselves,  and—  yes—  come  to  know  ourselves  as  individuals  and  members  of  a  larger  society.  Media  is  the  most 
 powerful  enterprise  we  have.  If  we  are  smart  about  it,  our  media  will  reflect  the  genius,  the  creativity  and  the  diversity  of  our  great  country.  We  will  see  to  it  that  the  people’s 
 airwaves  truly  reflect  and  truly  enhance  the  talents  and  aspirations  of  all  of  us. 
 Today  we  discuss  media,  the  country’s  most  powerful  sector,  in  media’s  great  capital  city,  Los  Angeles.  This  city  is  the  beating  heart  of  content  creation  in  America. 


 Media  is  this  city’s  most  important  and  influential  product,  and  this  city  stands  above  all  others  in  its  influence  over  media.  So  if  anyone  can  tell  us  what  is  going  right  and  what 
 is  going  wrong  today,  it  is  the  creative  content  producers  and  diverse  citizens  that  call  this  place  home. 


 Three  years  ago,  under  Chairman  Michael  Powell,  and  over  the  objections  of  Commissioner  Adelstein  and  me,  the  FCC  severely  cut  back—  some  would  say 
 eviscerated—  the  rules  meant  to  check  Big  Media’s  seemingly  endless  appetite  for  more  consolidation.  The  agency  did  so  under  cover  of  night,  without  seeking  the  input  of  the 
 American  people.  Can  you  imagine  that—  authorizing  a  sea  change  in  how  news  and  entertainment  are  produced  without  even  involving  the  citizens  who  rely  on  those 
 products  every  day? 
 It  was  a  near-  disaster  for  America.  Thankfully,  the  American  public  rose  up  across  the  land—  sending  nearly  three  million  e-  mails  and  letters  in  opposition  to  the 


 FCC.  Congress  rose  up,  too,  and  then  a  federal  court  sent  the  rules  back  to  us,  saying  they  were  badly  flawed.  That  was  good.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  huge  victory,  showing  that 
 concerned  citizens  can  still  make  a  difference. 
 But  now  we’re  back  at  square  one.  It’s  all  up  for  grabs.  And  if  we  are  going  to  do  a  better  job  this  time  around,  it’s  going  to  be  because  of  input  from  folks  like  you.  I 


 travel  all  across  the  country,  whenever  I  can,  to  attend  local  hearings  on  the  state  of  the  media  organized  by  all  kinds  of  citizens’  groups.  Let  me  tell  you,  I  learn  a  whole  lot 
 more  there  than  I  would  sitting  behind  my  desk  in  Washington.  So  I  thank  Chairman  Martin  for  holding  today’s  event  and  my  colleagues  for  attending.  I  hope  they  will 
 continue  to  attend  forums  like  this  one  in  many  other  communities  around  the  country. 
1
 2 
 This  afternoon’s  panel  is  going  to  be  speaking  about  the  challenges  creative  content  producers  face  in  today’s  media  environment.  What  a  perfect  L.  A.  topic.  I  know 
 the  creativity  is  here.  My  question  is  whether  it  can  get  access  to  the  public  airwaves.  And  I  want  to  emphasize  those  last  two  words—  public  airwaves.  They  belong  to  you 
 and  me  and  every  person  in  this  country,  not  to  any  corporation  or  conglomerate.  We  allow  broadcasters  to  use  the  airwaves—  for  free—  in  return  for  offering  programs  that 
 serve  the  public  interest.  We  want  to  find  out  from  you  whether  they’re  serving  your  interests  and,  if  not,  what  the  FCC  can  do  to  fix  it. 


 By  the  way,  serving  the  public  interest  means  the  public  interest  of  everyone  in  this  great  land.  Some  among  us  see  our  diversity  as  a  problem  to  be  overcome;  I  say  our 
 diversity  is  an  opportunity  to  be  harnessed.  It’s  our  strength;  it’s  who  we  are  and  it’s  what  we  can  be.  This  city  contains  a  multitude  of  races,  religions,  traditions  and  stories. 
 We  need  all  these  perspectives  on  whether  the  public  airwaves  here  in  L.  A.  are  being  used  to  reflect  those  traditions  and  stories,  or  whether  they  only  distort  and  caricature 
 them. 
 Finally,  we  are  also  here  to  learn  about  localism.  Locally-  owned  newspapers,  TV  news,  and  radio  used  to  be  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  Then  some  companies  got  the 
 idea  of  building  great  empires  from  sea  to  sea—  and  they  had  the  political  muscle  to  get  it  done.  Sometimes  these  companies  put  their  business  plans  ahead  of  the  public  interest. 
 The  latest  twist  is  that  a  few  of  them  are  starting  to  doubt  whether  those  business  plans  made  sense  in  the  first  place.  Yet  they  continue  to  beat  the  drums  for  more  consolidation. 
 It  might  be  amusing  if  it  weren’t  so  sad.  The  consequences  are  surely  no  joke—  local  newsrooms  devastated  by  job  cuts,  local  citizens  despairing  about  the  state  of  the  news, 
 and  minorities  shut  out  of  America’s  most  powerful  industry. 
 To  me,  these  questions  about  our  media  are  as  important  as  any  I  know.  Thank  you  for  coming  here  to  help  us  answer  them.  I  pledge  to  you  every  effort  I  am  capable  of 
 to  encourage  a  media  environment  that  works  for  every  person  in  this  hall  today. 
2