Below is my testimony delivered at the Chicago Media Ownership hearing on September 20, 2007.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, and to the commissioners, panelists and people represented here today. I am Dorothy Leavell, publisher and editor of the Crusader Newspaper Group, which publishes the oldest African American weekly newspapers in both Chicago and Gary, Indiana. In addition, I am chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Foundation in Washington, D.C., the advocacy and philanthropic arm of the Black Press in the United States. Our organization represents the country’s largest concentration of African American-owned media in this country, represented in more than 145 cities, and reaching every Black household in America. For over 180 years, the Black Press has been the voice and pulse of our people, allowing them greater participation in our democracy.

It is with this heritage that I come before you today to encourage the FCC to re-examine media rules which have created an environment of unchecked disregard for its minority listenership and viewership. The FCC’s deregulations have produced zero benefit for the African American community as a whole. They have impaired our broadcast media--forcing many Black broadcasters into smaller, less profitable markets, or pushing them off the air altogether. The 1996 Telecommunications Act issued a death blow to smaller, minority-owned firms that cannot afford to advertise on the very airwaves on which their customers listen. All of these Big Media companies – Clear Channel, Disney, CBS, General Electric, and so forth – are making a profit off the African American community, but the people themselves profit very little. We don’t want crumbs; we want meaningful participation, ownership, access to the airwaves and more responsible programming.

Given our history in this great nation of ours, African Americans are not surprised by a “changing of the rules.” Once we are in a position to compete, gain access, equity or justice, suddenly we find the rules changed. We are no longer on a level playing field. We aren’t even in the same ball park. In 1996, the FCC hosted an “all you can eat buffet” and the American people were not invited to dine. It is even more disheartening to know the FCC relaxed its rules during a time when research was available to the Commission and to Congress which clearly indicated that African American broadcasting firms lacked the necessary capital to compete in such an environment. In Chicago, Blacks and Browns are over half the population, but own less than 5 percent of media outlets. Further, the FCC has not adequately addressed the market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses in the provision and ownership of telecommunications and information services [Section 257]. The level of Black ownership of broadcast media has fallen by 30 percent over the past nine years and Commissioner Copps is accurate in calling this a “national disgrace.”

In Chicago, Black broadcasters are represented solely by WVON, which has heroically fought to stay on the air. But now the community is left to wonder what will become of the market's only African American-owned radio station, given that it now has a local market agreement (LMA) with Clear Channel. It is not lost on industry insiders that LMAs are also referred to as “losing my ass” agreements for the lesser end. We don’t want to lose WVON to Clear Channel--we want strong, profitable African American broadcast media in Chicago and throughout the country.

We understand that on the one hand big media operates more efficiently and is able to synergize its programming among its media partners. Yet, on the other hand, these corporations deprive the American people of meaningful input on the very airwaves we are supposed to own. There is increased bias, hardly any diversity of voices and persistent, misguided media coverage of communities of color. There are very little checks and balances.

The media consolidation giants have freely exploited the public airwaves for billions of dollars in ad revenue, yet these companies are accountable to no one—not the American public, not even the FCC. Because of the Commission’s rule changes, the American people must wait seven years to even challenge a broadcaster’s license! Seven years…[which allows the broadcaster six and a half years to violate our trust and gives them six months to embark upon a phony community service charade with high-profile individuals to stave off any serious FCC threat.] Therefore, I encourage the FCC to reconsider this rule and revert to an annual renewal process. Doing so will ensure greater accountability.

Local radio and television lack quality, relevant news and information that accurately depict the diversity of African American lifestyles. Instead of complementing the Black Press, which often lacks the resources to reach our people on a daily basis, these broadcasters repeatedly ignore the urgent need for quality news and information. Nearly 100 percent of what is broadcast on American airwaves is created, produced and authorized by Christian, white, aging men. Executives headquartered in Dallas and New York are not connected to what is going on in Englewood, Harvey, University Park, Austin, Country Club Hills, Lawndale, Roseland or Chatham.

Further, the consolidation onslaught has had a devastating impact on African American-owned enterprises. Our small companies cannot compete with the likes of Clear Channel, which controls eight radio stations, outdoor billboards, performance venues, and even owns its own advertising firm, Katz Media. The Tribune owns not only the city’s largest newspaper, but its largest radio station, TV station, and cable station, giving them an unprecedented monopoly on what people in this market see, hear and read. Small businesses have little leverage in negotiating better rates for radio and television with these companies and therefore, with limited marketing opportunities and ultimately without an influx of capital, will be forced out of business—a direct result of the FCC’s negligence.

Take the city of Gary, Indiana, for example. Among cities with more than 100,000 people, Gary has one of the highest percentages of African Americans in the country. The city is blighted by a crumbling economic infrastructure. There are two televisions stations noted as the city of license by the FCC. Yet Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns WPWR-Channel 50, is able to keep an FCC license in Gary but instead operates its station in Chicago with its other Fox affiliate, WFLD. The station is licensed to Gary to serve the people of Gary--but all ad revenues, jobs, tax benefits go to Chicago. Something is woefully wrong with this picture. Imagine the revenue, jobs, and goodwill that can be created in this major American city, with a station as powerful as a FOX affiliate operating there. With its one or two radio stations, if the power should go out—and it did for nearly two weeks last month (a fact hardly mentioned by the Chicago media market), there is no local radio station. For the people of Gary, the local daily (with limited coverage of the city) and the Crusader Newspaper remain the most important and consistent sources of news and information.

We are also concerned about 2009 digital conversion process and the impact it will have on low-income households. We encourage the FCC to do what it can, along with Congress, to ensure that funds are earmarked to ensure that low-income households do not lose their signals.

We are tired of the smoke and mirrors these big media companies play with the FCC and within the community. We want to send a clear message to the media monstrosities that the African American community cannot be silenced and bought off with sponsorships of chicken dinners and conventions, 30-second interviews and a couple of radio shows. Local control, more diversity, accountability, the ability to compete—this is what we seek from the FCC.

I am encouraged today that the Commission is committed to hearing the opinions of the American People and has brought its listening tour to our great city. We are especially encouraged by the presence of Commissioner Adelstein and Commissioner Copps, two outspoken champions of media democracy. We implore you all to open your eyes and ears to the “quiet Katrinas” ravishing low-income people, African Americans, Latinos, women and others in our country every day. The FCC can make the difference. It can restore the public’s trust. It can level the playing field. It can fight for the little guy. It can stand up for American democracy. Do not abandon your mission.