Ownership of our country’s media is rapidly consolidating. Six giant conglomerates -- Disney, News Corp., NBC/GE, Time Warner, Viacom and CBS -- control the major television networks, most cable channels, and the Hollywood studios, and have huge holdings in radio, publishing, music companies and Internet properties.

These massive corporations produce most of what we see, hear and read every day. Since 1975, more than two-thirds of independently owned newspapers and one-third of independently owned television stations have disappeared.

Now the cartel of Big Media conglomerates wants to change our country’s media ownership rules so they can get even bigger, and the Federal Communications Commission is helping them.

In 2003, the FCC, without any public input, caved to massive lobbying pressure from Big Media and tried to unleash unprecedented consolidation of newspapers and radio and television stations across the country. Free Press and its allies alerted the public and millions of Americans protested. Eventually, the agency’s rules were invalidated by the courts.

But Big Media and the FCC are still trying to gut ownership rules that ensure a diversity of voices and viewpoints and protect local communities from media monopolies. In December 2007, the FCC narrowly voted to lift the longstanding cross-ownership ban that had prevented one company from owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market.

• Read Devil in the Details, the report that exposes 10 key facts that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin doesn't want you to know about his new media ownership rules.
  
• Don't miss these other critical reports that explain how the FCC has abandoned its mandate to ensure a more diverse and democratic media system.

For more information on media consolidation, visit our StopBigMedia.com campaign.

In Congress

The most important media ownership bill introduced during the 110th Congress was the Resolution of Disapproval (H.J. Res. 79). The resolution sought to rescind the FCC's December 2007 vote to lift the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban. The Senate passed the resolution by an overwhelming margin on May 15, 2008.

At the FCC

Free Press frequently partners with other public interest groups, including Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America, to file comments and documents with the FCC.

Click here to read FCC filings by Free Press and allied organizations on the media ownership issue.