Action Alert

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Yesterday, the New York Times exposed a secret Pentagon campaign to infiltrate the media with pro-war propaganda.

The scheme reaches all the way to the Bush White House, where top officials recruited dozens of "military analysts" to spread favorable views of the war via every major news channel -- without revealing they were working from Pentagon scripts and often lobbying for major military contractors.

Spreading "covert propaganda" is illegal under federal law. Congress must investigate these military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media.

In the fall of 2007, the FCC began to address this problem when it approved new rules that would dramatically strengthen and improve reporting requirements for TV stations.

The FCC's old disclosure requirements asked little of TV stations, ensuring that most broadcasters were easily granted their license renewal every time stations reapplied.

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Our best chance to stop media consolidation could clear a big hurdle this week.

On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will vote on the “Resolution of Disapproval” that North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan introduced last month (Senate Joint Resolution 28). With 18 bipartisan co-sponsors, including Alaska’s Sen. Ted Stevens, the vice chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, the resolution has a good chance of passing.

So the clock is ticking – we have to act now to protect our communities from a massive new wave of media consolidation.

Take action now or read on to find out more about this important new bill.

EXHIBIT A: Sam Zell, the new owner of media giant Tribune Company dropped an "F-bomb" on one of his journalists when she asked him about the balance between profitmaking and investing in newsgathering.