July, 08 2011, 08:12am EDT
Federal Court Rejects Media Consolidation in Prometheus vs. FCC
Ruling represents second historic victory for Prometheus Radio Project this year
PHILADELPHIA
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its long-awaited verdict in Prometheus Radio Project v. the Federal Communications Commission, rejecting the FCC's attempt to further deregulate media ownership. The Court threw out FCC rules that would have allowed one company to own a newspaper and broadcast stations in the same market. The Court also upheld the FCC's other limits on local broadcast ownership, and agreed with Prometheus and other public interest groups that the FCC failed to consider the impact of its rules on women and people of color.
"We won on almost every point. This decision is a vindication of the public's right to have a diverse media environment," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman of Media Access Project, who argued the case on behalf of Prometheus.
This is the second major victory this year for the Prometheus Radio Project, whose ten-year effort to pass legislation expanding community radio succeeded when President Obama signed the bipartisan Local Community Radio Act into law on January 4. The law will result in thousands of new community radio stations, and the FCC will be accepting applications for stations as early as next summer.
Both victories are the result of widespread, bipartisan grassroots organizing. The Third Circuit Court's decision referred to the testimony from thousands of people who participated in FCC ownership hearings nationwide, finding that the FCC failed to give people adequate opportunity to weigh in on the rules.
"Media matters. Thousands of people fought to pass the Local Community Radio Act, and thousands more spoke out loudly when the FCC tried to further consolidate broadcast media. We've won these battles, but we must continue to push the FCC to do the right thing for community radio. Industry voices always have the ear of the FCC, but thanks to the nationwide clamor for a better media, we have their attention now," said Brandy Doyle, Policy Director at the Prometheus Radio Project.
On July 12, the FCC will again propose new rules, this time to implement the Local Community Radio Act. The rules must comply with a mandate from Congress to ensure that channels will be available for low power FM community radio in urban markets. They will set a balance between low power stations and translators, which repeat the signals of larger stations. Prometheus and other public interest advocates are working for rules to give urban communities a voice on the airwaves.
"We look forward to seeing the FCC's proposal on July 12, and we are ready to push for stronger rules if necessary," said Doyle. "Commercial broadcasters must share the airwaves with the urban churches, schools, and non-profits who have waited more than a decade to serve their communities with radio."
Preparing for that opportunity, volunteers nationwide are mobilizing community groups to apply for stations through Prometheus' Radio Summer outreach campaign.
Prometheus first won its landmark case against the FCC in 2003, blocking the FCC from dramatically consolidating broadcast media ownership. In 2007, the FCC tried to deregulate the industry again, seeking to end a 35-year old ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership. Today the Court rejected that effort.
In today's win, Prometheus and Media Access Project were joined by public interest allies including Free Press, the Georgetown Institute for Public Representation, Media Alliance and United Church of Christ.
LATEST NEWS
Lawyers Sue Germany in Bid to Block Arms Exports to Israel
"There is reason to believe that these weapons are being used to commit grave violations of international law, such as the crime of genocide and war crimes."
Apr 06, 2024
The Berlin-based Lawyers' Collective on Friday sued the German government in an effort to stop weapons transfers to Israel, whose government and military are waging a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany is the second-largest arms exporter to Israel, providing 30% of its imported weaponry from 2019-23. The top exporter, the United States, provided 69% of Israel's imported armaments during that same period.
"As there is reason to believe that these weapons are being used to commit grave violations of international law, such as the crime of genocide and war crimes, the applicants are hereby demanding that the German government protect their right to life," groups supporting the lawsuit—including the European Legal Support Center, Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, Law for Palestine, and Forensis—said in a statement.
Ahmed Abed, an attorney in the case who is representing Palestinian families, said during a Friday press conference in Berlin that "Germany has a constitutional responsibility to protect human life."
"The German government must stop its arms exports to Israel, as they are in violation of international law," he added. "The government cannot claim that it is not aware of this."
According to the Lawyers' Collective:
In 2023, the German government issued arms exports licenses to Israel worth €326.5 million, the majority of which were approved after October 7, 2023, a tenfold increase compared to 2022. The German government is currently supporting the Israeli army by approving the supply of 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons, 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns, or other fully or semi-automatic firearms, as well as other military equipment, while in early 2024 Germany was preparing the authorization of 10,000 rounds of 120mm tank ammunition...
The arms deliveries and support provided by the Federal Government to Israel violate the Federal Republic's obligations under the War Weapons Control Act. The criteria for the approval of arms exports include, among other things, that the weapons are not used against Germany's obligations to international law.
The groups said that since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found in January that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza, they believe that "the delivery of weapons is contrary to these obligations."
In February, lawyers from some of the same groups involved in the new lawsuit sued senior German officials, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for "aiding and abetting" Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Last month, Nicaragua filed an ICJ lawsuit against Germany accusing its government of helping Israel commit genocide against Palestinians.
In addition to exporting hundreds of millions of euros worth of arms to Israel, Germany also suspended contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in response to unsubstantiated Israeli accusations that 12 of the agency's 13,000 workers in Gaza were involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel. This, as Palestinians starve to death.
The German government has been intensely criticized for its nearly unconditional support for Israel and for violently cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests. Numerous observers contend that Germany's actions are driven by historical guilt over the Holocaust, with some critics claiming the German government is weaponizing that guilt in order to demonize Palestinians and their defenders.
The new lawsuit came as the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday voted 28-6 with 13 abstentions in favor of a resolution demanding that Israel be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The United States and Germany were the two biggest countries to vote against the measure.
Palestinian and international human rights officials say at least 33,173 Palestinians—most of them women and children—have been killed by Israel's bombing, invasion, and siege of Gaza since October 7. More than 75,800 others have been wounded, while over 7,000 Gazans are missing and believed dead and buried beneath the rubble of the hundreds of thousands of homes and other structures damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks.
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'You Are an Inspiration,' Sanders Tells LA Hotel Workers Fighting for Just Contracts
"The message of today is we are sick and tired of the greed of corporate America," Sen. Bernie Sanders said at a union rally in downtown Los Angeles.
Apr 06, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined hospitality workers in downtown Los Angeles on Friday as they picketed outside one of the dozens of hotels that have yet to reach a contract deal with UNITE HERE Local 11, whose membership is demanding better pay, benefits, and job protections in one of the nation's most expensive cities.
"You are an inspiration, because of your courage, to millions of working people throughout this country," Sanders (I-Vt.) told the crowd of workers gathered outside Hotel Figueroa. "You are working hard, you are what keeps these hotels going. You deserve decent wages, you deserve decent benefits, you deserve decent healthcare, you deserve decent schedules, you deserve decent pensions."
Since last summer, thousands of workers at more than 50 hotels in southern California have taken part in rolling strikes that have yielded record contract agreements—including significant wage increases and other victories—at 34 hotels.
Many of the hotels that have yet to meet workers' demands, including Hotel Figueroa, are owned by private equity firms.
Sanders called out one of those firms—the investment behemoth Blackstone—by name on Friday, noting that the company CEO's annual compensation is far larger than the combined wage increases that striking hotel workers are demanding.
"Working people are sick and tired of getting ripped off while corporate America enjoys record-breaking profits," said Sanders. "We are living in a country today where, for the last 50 years, the wages of working people, in terms of inflation, have gone nowhere—actually declined."
"You are part of a growing movement in this country of workers joining unions, of organized unions standing up and demanding decent contracts. That's what's going on all over America," the senator continued. "The message of today is we are sick and tired of the greed of corporate America... This union deserves a decent contract."
(Photo: Bryan Giardinelli/Hello@BreatheNewWinds.com)
Friday's rally at Hotel Figueroa, which is owned by the private equity firm BentallGreenOak, came weeks after the hotel's former food and beverage operator shut down operations as its nonunion employees attempted to organize. More than 100 workers lost their jobs as a result.
Maria Ibarra, a cook who was laid off, filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this week alleging that Hotel Figueroa's ownership "violated a city ordinance meant to protect workers' jobs when there are changes in management by failing to retain them when the new operator took over."
"We service workers are not disposable," said Ibarra. "We're not something to be tossed aside when we're no longer convenient. I am filing this lawsuit to make sure our rights are respected."
The hotel workers' strike actions over the past eight months have been described asthe largest of their kind in U.S. history, and they've persisted even in the face of physical violence. In January, an unknown assailant used an apparent air rifle to shoot workers with metal ball bearings, leading some workers to wear bulletproof vests and helmets on the picket lines.
"My co-workers and I have been fighting for a just contract for months," Noelia Gonzalez, a room attendant at Hotel Figueroa, said during Friday's rally. "On many occasions during our pickets, we've been attacked. I'm very frustrated that my coworkers experienced violence while fighting for their rights and their benefits. I'm frustrated that the company left us vulnerable to violent attack."
"The hotel and company would not exist without our hard work and effort," she added. "That's why we deserve what we're fighting for."
"What we're doing here in this street and streets across southern California... is worth more than all the private equity money in the world."
Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, said Friday that the "corporate greed" on display in the hotel sector "isn't just a threat to workers—it's harming our democracy."
"The same way the ultrawealthy concentrate their money to buy hotels, they also concentrate their money to influence our political system," said Briceño. "But I'm here to tell you that all the collective action, what we're doing here in this street and streets across southern California and hotel workers standing up is worth more than all the private equity money in the world."
In an interview with Common Dreams ahead of Friday's rally, Sanders said the hotel employees' tireless push for just contracts underscores that workers are increasingly "standing up to corporate greed and are prepared to fight." Last year, the number of U.S. workers involved in major work stoppages jumped 280%, a surge fueled by nurses, actors, autoworkers, and others.
"It's really quite extraordinary. And if you and I were chatting 10 years ago, I don't think we would've anticipated this," said Sanders. "The absurdity of so few having so much and so many having so little and workers having to struggle is I think bringing forth a real strong reaction about the working class of this country."
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Youth Organizers Launch 'Protect Our Power' Campaign to Reelect the Squad
House progressives "have shifted the political narrative to center young people's leadership on the most pressing issues of our generation—from climate justice, labor rights, and abortion access, to anti-war foreign policy."
Apr 05, 2024
A coalition of youth organizers this week launched the "Protect Our Power" campaign to help reelect progressives in Congress who are under attack from pro-Israel lobbyists for their criticism of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault of the Gaza Strip.
"We are among the leaders of the most diverse and progressive generation in U.S. history," says a fact sheet from organizers. "We've met each other on Zoom calls, college campuses, campaigns, rallies, and parties. Spanning across a range of organizations and movements, we're united by our generation's common fight for peace, justice, a livable world, and a multiracial democracy."
"Over the past few years, we've experimented with a diverse set of tactics to grow our power—our involvement in elections being one of them," the organizers noted. "Today, we not only occupy the streets but Congress itself. With just a handful of insurgent electeds known as 'The Squad,' we have forced our generation's priorities to the forefront of American politics and reinspired young people to be involved in the political process."
"We're united by our generation's common fight for peace, justice, a livable world, and a multiracial democracy."
The Squad began with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—younger progressive women of color all elected in 2018. The informal group has since expanded to include Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Summer Lee (D-Pa.).
Young progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives recently dubbed "Squad-adjacent" by Slate's Alexander Sammon include Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American in Congress—and Bush led the first Gaza cease-fire resolution effort in Congress, just days after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which has retaliated over the past six months by killing more than 33,000 Palestinians, injuring another 75,000, displacing most people in Gaza, and devastating civilian infrastructure.
While global condemnation of Israel grows—a genocide case against the country at the International Court of Justice continues to garner support—the dark money affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) plans to spend $100 million trying to unseat congressional critics of the Israeli government this election cycle.
Reporting on those plans led to the recent creation of Reject AIPAC, a coalition of progressive organizations working to take on the group and its affiliated super political action committees (PACs). Members include Justice Democrats, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, IfNotNow, Working Families Party, Sunrise Movement, Democratic Socialists of America, and Gen-Z for Change.
Youth organizers from some of those same organizations are involved with the new Protect Our Power effort.
"The only thing that beats organized money is organized people," the young organizers argued. "Fortunately, that's what we know how to do best. Over the next few months, we'll build out a cohort of committed young leaders across the country and equip them with the training and tools to bring their own networks into this work."
"We'll work with these leaders to mobilize their networks to engage in a variety of tactics to defend the Squad," the organizers said. "For some groups, that might mean making texts, calls, and knocking on doors. For others, that could mean birddogging, targeted and disruptive demonstrations, oppo research, and much more. Then, once we win, we'll frame our victories as a governing mandate to shape the Democratic platform and agenda in the 2024 general election."
Before November, progressives targeted by pro-Israel groups are working to win their primaries. In Pennsylvania, voters are set to head to the polls on April 23. Lee's primary challenger is Bhavini Patel, who is taking money from rich right-wingers; a previous challenger, Laurie MacDonald, is now running a write-in campaign as a Republican.
The New York primary elections are on June 25. Bowman faces an AIPAC-backed Westchester County Executive George Latimer—who last week was accused of "straight-up genocide denial" for his comments on the mass slaughter in Gaza.
Bush and Omar are both set to face locally prominent primary challengers in August.
Those four incumbents "and the rest of the Squad have shifted the political narrative to center young people's leadership on the most pressing issues of our generation—from climate justice, labor rights, and abortion access, to anti-war foreign policy," the Protect Our Power coalition said on social media Thursday.
"Help us reelect the Squad and guarantee that our allies in Congress can continue to represent young people across this country," the group added. "Join us this Sunday for our kickoff."
The coalition is made up of "over 100 youth organizers across issues, including students from 30+ universities," according to spokesperson John Paul Mejia. "We're defending the Squad and our generation's political power from right-wing, billionaire-funded organizations that want to silence us."
I am forever indebted to the squad for holding the line & making sure congress pass the biggest federal climate bill \u2600\ufe0f\n\nWe need their moral clarity & conviction in the Congress. I am excited to join 100+ youth organizers to @protectourpwr against the right wing super PACs\u270a\ud83c\udffc— (@)
Among the campaign's supporters is climate activist Magnolia Mead, who warned this week that "our movements can't afford to lose their critical voices in Congress. Now and in the coming months we have a chance to throw down and protect them."
Kavi Shrestha, an Oregon-based leader with College Democrats of America, similarly stressed that "our generation cannot stand by as right-wing billionaires and PACs attack the representatives who stand up for our interests—Medicare for All, a habitable planet, and an immediate cease-fire."
"While they have money," said Shrestha, "we have numbers."
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