Con el liderazgo del ex Comisionado Federal de Comunicaciones Michael Copps, Common Cause anunci\u00f3 hoy planes para una Iniciativa Nacional de Reforma de los Medios y la Democracia destinada a destacar y contrarrestar el creciente poder pol\u00edtico y econ\u00f3mico de la industria de las comunicaciones.<\/p>
\"Today's information technologies have tremendous potential to give Americans access to information, connect us to the rest of the world, and strengthen our democracy,\" said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. \"We can't afford to let increasingly powerful and concentrated telecom and media interests use their muscle to control that future.\"<\/p>
\"Working in Washington and through our network of state chapters, Common Cause's initiative aims to restore and expand diversity, open access, transparency and public control in both traditional and new media,\" Edgar added. \"And in Michael Copps, we've found the perfect person to guide it.\" <\/p>
Edgar dijo que las generosas donaciones de varias fundaciones proporcionar\u00e1n el apoyo financiero inicial para la iniciativa. Tambi\u00e9n se basar\u00e1 en gran medida en la experiencia y la defensa de Copps, quien durante una d\u00e9cada (2001-11) como miembro de la FCC se destac\u00f3 como un defensor abierto del papel del gobierno para garantizar que los medios tradicionales, Internet y otros sistemas digitales sirvan al inter\u00e9s p\u00fablico general.<\/p>
Locating in Washington, DC in 1970, Copps served for more than a dozen years as chief-of-staff for U.S. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-SC, and as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development in the Clinton administration before joining the FCC. He was the seventh longest-serving commissioner in the agency's history. (Click here for a biography of Michael Copps.)<\/p>
Copps joined Common Cause's National Governing Board earlier this year and will temporarily relinquish that position to oversee the Media Democracy and Reform Initiative. \"A number of other groups already are doing great work in this area,\" Copps said. \"We are determined to bolster their efforts, using our national membership, organizing, and campaign experience, and our 35 state chapters to focus attention on, and build public support for, media reform. Without media that dig for facts, report real news, and reflect the diversity of our nation, self-government cannot endure.\"<\/p>
Entre otras cosas, la Iniciativa de Reforma de los Medios y la Democracia abordar\u00e1 cuestiones creadas por las fusiones industriales y la consolidaci\u00f3n del control dentro de las regiones y entre plataformas de medios; la eliminaci\u00f3n del control local sobre el cable y la banda ancha municipal; las licencias de transmisi\u00f3n con carta blanca sin tener en cuenta las obligaciones legales de servir al inter\u00e9s p\u00fablico; los desaf\u00edos a los principios del despliegue ubicuo de banda ancha y una Internet abierta; y los ataques a la financiaci\u00f3n de la radiodifusi\u00f3n p\u00fablica. <\/p>
With its longtime focus on the role of money in politics, Edgar said Common Cause is particularly concerned with the drowning out of voters' diverse political voices by massive political spending by the few. \"We see this initiative as a natural complement to our other efforts to counter the impact of big money on our politics and our elections and to ensure that ours is a government 'of, by and for the people,'\" Edgar said.<\/p>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\n