1. Journalists from unpopular publications are harassed.
2. All press kicked out of Gitmo except Fox.
3. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin -- backed by the biggest media giants -- is angling to eliminate the newspaper-broadcast "cross-ownership" ban that prevents a single conglomerate from owning the major daily newspaper as well as radio and TV stations in a single market. And he wants to lift local ownership caps on how many TV stations one company can own in your town.
4. A handful of conglomerates control virtually all of our mainstream news.
5. AT&T, Verizon and Comcast lobbying for a law that would abandon the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. A very damaging bill has passed the House.
6. The Bush Administration regularly intimidates the press in a systematic attack on it's credibility.
7. The Bush Administration regularly muzzles and harasses whistle-blowers in a systematic undermining of laws protecting us from government excess.
8. The Bush Administration uses priviledged media plants to taint news coverage.
Because of the loss of newspaper readership, media outlets now controlled by conglomerates with a political agenda are closing off our access to free information, threatening to hollow out our Democracy. If we have access only to propaganda from billionaires, how are we to provide advise and consent to Congress as require under the Constitution?
Listen to an interview with Walter Cronkite on this topic with a rousing debate between media experts.
Take action now to protect our last free access to information: the Internet.
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