It is a new year, and we are on the verge of a new fight for our media, for our communities and for our democracy.

Last year, you fought hard in communities across the country, attending hearings, holding meetings, and making a space for the public to shape the media policies that impact your daily lives. You filled town halls and church basements. You gave passionate testimony and told haunting stories about the ways Big Media has turned their back on your communities.

We'll be Fighting Big Media and Fighting for Better Media in 2008

Last year, you sent hundreds of thousands of letters to the FCC and Congress. You went to Capitol Hill; you went to policymakers’ district offices. You made them pay attention and got them on the record. You made media an issue at home and in Washington.

However, just two weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission abdicated its responsibility to protect diversity, localism and competition and voted for more corporate welfare for Big Media.

In the coming year, we’ll work together to keep fighting the FCC’s controversial decision to gut media ownership rules and open the floodgates to greater media consolidation. There are now bills in both the House and Senate that would overturn the FCC vote. With your help, we’ll push Congress to take swift action and stop the FCC’s Big Media giveaway. In partnership with other public interest allies, we’ll take the FCC to court and make them defend this rule change in front of the same judges who threw out their last handout to Big Media.

Together, we will finish what we started last year, but we won’t stop there. Last year, you were fighting against Big Media. This year, you have the chance to fight for a better media. In addition to stopping Big Media from devouring more local outlets in your community, we’ll work with you to create a more robust, vital and diverse media system.

2008 is poised to be a profoundly important year for media reform. Our first priority will be overturning the FCC's disastrous new ownership rules. Looking ahead, here are a more things we could do with your help:

• Help move new legislation that would support the creation of hundreds of new Low Power FM radio stations.
• Create new outlets for local voices and local issues and stop cable companies from dismantling local public access and educational television.
• Support local musicians and take back the airwaves for independent artists.
• Secure better working conditions for communications workers, TV writers, and journalists.
• Ensure that independent media voices survive and find new audiences.
• Reinstate Net Neutrality and make sure the free and open Internet stays that way.
• Put media reform on the national agenda and gather together to show our collective strength.

And who knows, maybe this will be the year we not only stopping Big Media from getting bigger, but actually lay the foundation for rolling back media consolidation and imagining a new media system that serves local communities and builds our democracy.

As we begin to articulate a bold new vision for a better media, we’ll need your help to shape that vision and make it a reality. You can take action now, join the conversation, spread the word and help build this critical movement.