For Immediate Release
March 25, 2003

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. seeks more hearings before FCC revises media ownership rules

Washington, D.C. -- The coalition that represents the four largest U.S. journalism organizations of color is asking the Federal Communications Commission to delay ruling on the six controversial proposals to loosen regulation and ownership restrictions of broadcast media in the United States.

» Text of letter sent to FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell ...

In a letter on behalf of the organization to FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell, UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. expressed concern regarding the limited opportunity that the commission has provided for public input at the local level on this critical issue. UNITY is asking Powell to schedule and publicize a series of public hearings nationwide to allow the public, at a local level, to comment on and more fully understand the ramifications of the rule changes under consideration.

“Along with other organizations, we believe the FCC should provide ample opportunity for the public, which has much to gain or lose through the changes in the media ownership rules, to be a part of this complex discussion through additional hearings,” said UNITY President Ernest R. Sotomayor, who is Long Island Editor at Newsday.com in New York. “By convening a single public hearing on changes that have potential to substantially reshape the news media industry, the FCC is not serving the public’s interest.”

Only one public hearing has been held this year – in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 27 – to allow the public to appear before the commission.

The FCC is expected later this year to relax several longstanding policies limiting ownership of television and radio stations, a move that could unleash a wave of media consolidation. The FCC is considering changing or scrapping six critical rules covering media ownership, some dating back more than a half-century.

The FCC rule changes have the potential to affect thousands of jobs, including many held by journalists of color, as well as how news and information is reported to millions of American viewers, listeners and readers as the news media outlets are consolidated into fewer and more concentrated entities in local markets.

The UNITY alliance organizations are concerned that interested groups, especially those representing minority communities and constituencies, have not had sufficient time or ability to influence the process and to study the issue to ensure that consolidations will not reverse gains made in making the news media workforce more diverse, and that they do not skew coverage, particularly in communities of color.

At its most recent meeting in Fort Worth, UNITY’s board of directors overwhelmingly approved a motion directing an ad-hoc committee to analyze the pending rule changes and recommend a course of action to the full board.

“We believe that the interests of the public should be paramount as the FCC makes its decisions, and that would dictate the need to allow more comment,” Sotomayor said.

Earlier, UNITY alliance partners NAHJ (The National Association of Hispanic Journalists) and NABJ (The National Association of Black Journalists) have separately called for a delay in the process.

In its resolution, the NAHJ board last month called on the FCC to postpone its plans to issue rules this spring until it convenes more hearings in different parts of the country, and for media companies overall to provide greater news coverage on the issue.

A recent report by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting revealed that since the FCC announced the review of the nation's broadcast ownership rules last September, ABC, CBS and NBC have done little to cover the issue. FAIR found only one network story on the issue: a short summary on ABC's World News This Morning that aired on Sept. 9 at 4:30 a.m.

UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. represents more than 7,000 members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). Member organizations jointly gather every five years for a national convention, with the next to be held August 4-8, 2004 in Washington D.C.

For more information contact:
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc.
1601 North Kent Street Suite 1003
Arlington, Va. 22209
703 469-2100
Email at info@unityjournalists.org

About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. UNITY, representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.