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Friday, November 15, 2013

Private monopoly conjoined with gov’t neglect breaches public trust

Radio Station’s Willful harm FCC ignores: Sue Wilson acts
Excerpt, editing by Carolyn Bennett

Inordinate power corrupts; unchecked power kills ─ often with impunity (domestic broadcasting to drone warfare: they get away with murder)

The medium of broadcasting “is unique because the airwaves belong to the people; radio and TV stations are licensed by the FCC only if they ‘serve the public interest.’  What does that really mean, and how do ‘We the People’ ensure that broadcasters and their regulators hold up their end of the bargain?”

A Case of Willful Harm
Sue Wilson
Founder of
Media Action Center

Entercom Sacramento’s KDND radio station in 2007 sponsored a water drinking contest called ‘Hold Your Wee for a Wii.’ The idea was to compete to see who could drink the most water without peeing; ‘last man standing’ would win a Nintendo Wii!  But the stunt turned deadly: a contestant ─ 28-year-old mother of three, Jennifer Strange ─ died. 

Learning of Jennifer Strange’s death, Entercom Sacramento market manager John Geary “instructed his staff NOT to call the other contestants to warn them of possible health risks; he asked his station manager to get on the phone - and start calling lawyers.”

When sued and found guilty of negligence, Entercom Sacramento’s KDND radio station insurance company paid millions; “the station itself never paid any price as you or I would have [had] we killed someone, even accidentally.” The death of Jennifer Strange, however, can barely be called an accident, as the jury discovered.

Six years after the incident, the Federal agency tasked with protecting the public interest in broadcasting has done nothing about the request to strip Entercom of its license.  Instead, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has granted Entercom several more radio licenses across the United States.” 

A couple of weeks ago, through her non-profit project, the Media Action Center, Sue Wilson, also director of “Broadcast Blues”, filed a Petition to Deny the renewal of the broadcast license of a Entercom Sacramento’s KDND radio station “because, simply put, they killed a woman.”

Responsibility, accountability
Common, societal good

Wilson says it is “now up to the FCC as to whether they force real accountability in this matter by denying renewal of the station’s license to broadcast over our public airwaves.” 

Broadcast Blues
Directed by
Sue Wilson
A motorist who drives recklessly and kills someone pays through the required auto insurance and personally loses the license to drive. [So too] “If a radio station broadcasts recklessly and kills someone,” it too should “lose the free license it’s been granted by the people to use our public airwaves?”

Wilson concludes, “Broadcasting is a public privilege entrusted to precious few private entities.  Radio and TV stations privately own their equipment; the public owns the air frequencies over which signals are broadcast.  The frequencies, called public airwaves, are like public highways:  just as [the people, the public] own the highways and receive licenses to drive, we own our public airwaves and stations are issued licenses by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to broadcast.  The licenses are free, but stations are only granted lucrative and scarce licenses IF they agree, in exchange, to ‘serve the public interest’. When stations do not keep that bargain, the FCC should rescind their licenses.” 

Tomorrow (November 16) in four countries people will March against the Mainstream Media, a coordinated protest involving 64 events. Activists are hoping to draw attention to lack of alternative sources for news and information. 

Protests will be held outside locations owned by major media networks and will be coordinated with online protests of the companies’ social media outlets. The March against the Mainstream Media is the latest in a string of multi-location demonstrations organized via social media networks


Sources and notes

“Who’s Accountable for Reckless Broadcasting?” November 12, 2013, http://www.suewilsonreports.com/2013/11/whos-accountable-for-reckless.html#more

Sue Wilson’s film “Broadcast Blues” was screened at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., on November 13, 2013; and a panel discussion with Free Press, Common Cause, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition focused on “ways to hold not only broadcasters, but the FCC itself accountable to the public interest. A petition has also been circulated to tell the FCC that “enough is enough: radio stations cannot just kill people and expect to continue to broadcast on our publicly owned airwaves.”

Putting the Public Back into the Public Interest
Strategies for Broadcast Media Reform

The medium of broadcasting “is unique because the airwaves belong to the people; radio and TV stations are licensed by the FCC only if they ‘serve the public interest.’  What does that really mean, and how do ‘We the People’ ensure that broadcasters and their regulators hold up their end of the bargain?”

Sue Wilson’s Media Action Center: “Putting the Public Back into Broadcasters’ Public Interest Obligations,” http://www.mediaactioncenter.net/

Broadcast Blues Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MrNvYVb-jw

Sue Wilson reports, http://www.suewilsonreports.com/

November 15 on “Breaking the Set” with Abby Martin: “Sue Wilson of Media Action Center, single-handedly taking on media conglomerates and the FCC to demand that public airwaves be put back in the hands of the people.” Also on the program “a call to action for a March Against the Mainstream Media on November 16, discussing the abysmal failure of the Fourth Estate and the lack of public knowledge about important issues.…” November 15, 2013 04:30
http://rt.com/shows/breaking-set-summary/operation-pillar-of-defense-757/

Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554
Phone: 1-888-225-5322; TTY: 1-888-835-5322; Fax: 1-866-418-0232

http://www.fcc.gov/

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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