WASHINGTON - October 24 - In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner will call on lawmakers to address media consolidation’s devastating impact on diverse and local radio ownership.

“Congress must send a message to the FCC to stop its rush toward more consolidation,” Turner said. “Ownership rules exist for a reason: to increase diversity and localism, which in turn produces more diverse speech, more choice for listeners, and more owners who are responsive to their local communities.”

Turner will testify at a hearing on the “Future of Radio” on behalf of Free Press, Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America. Others scheduled to testify include musician Mac McCaughan of Merge Records; Tim Westergren, founder of the Internet radio service Pandora; Carol Pierson, president of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters; and Dana Davis Rehm of NPR.

A live webcast of the hearing will be available at http://commerce.senate.gov/

Following the hearing, Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) will hold a press conference at noon in the Senate Radio & TV Gallery to discuss FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s reported plans to push for a vote to relax media ownership rules before the end of the year.

In extensive comments filed this week with the FCC, the three consumer groups detailed how the FCC has not accurately counted the number of minority and female broadcast owners or given any consideration to the impact of broader media ownership policy on ownership diversity or localism.

“Our research conclusively demonstrates that more consolidation means less female and minority ownership,” Turner said. “The Commission needs to first adequately study the issue of minority ownership before moving forward with any rule changes. It may be hard to believe, but they’ve never even conducted an accurate count of who owns the nation’s radio outlets. How can the FCC conduct any meaningful analysis regarding the effects of its policies if it can’t conduct a basic count of who owns what?”

A summary of Turner’s testimony can be found at http://www.freepress.net/docs/summary_of_testimony.pdf

The full written testimony can be read at http://www.freepress.net/docs/turner_commerce_testimony_10_24_2007_main.pdf

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