Swift Response to Dec 18th FCC Vote

On Dec. 18th as the FCC was voting to gut the longstanding protection that prhibbitted one company from owning the major daily newspaper and a TV or radio station in the same community, Capital News launched a poll on their website asking people, "Would relaxed media ownership rules be good for local TV stations and newspapers?"

The poll recieved a surprising number of votes and before the FCC made up its mind it was already begining to reflect what people all over the country have been saying for years: Big Media is big enough. By the end of busienss that day, the FCC had voted and the rules had been changed. Ignoring massive public outcry and severe warnings from both the House and the Senate, Chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a massive corporate handout for Big Media. However, people continued to vote.

That evening the poll was still live on the CapitalNews website. More than 1300 people had voted and 84% said that bigger media would do nothing good for quality journalism on TV or in newspapers.