Hearing seeks views on FCC rules

HEARING SEEKS VIEWS ON FCC RULES
[SOURCE: The Patriot-News 2/20, AUTHOR: Barry Fox]
All five FCC commissioners are expected to attend the Commission's public hearing on media ownership at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg (PA) on Friday. About half of the session is set aside for public comment. Joel Kelsey, a grass-roots coordinator for Consumers Union, said these official hearings have all been well-attended with the clear message that people want "more local news, more diverse news, not more places to get the same news." Critics have long said that the consolidation of the industry, which is now dominated by large ownership groups like Clear Channel, Cumulus and Citadel, is killing localism in broadcasting. But R.J. Harris, the morning man on WHP 580 AM and the operations manager of WHP and WTKT "The Ticket" 1460 AM, both Clear Channel stations, strongly disagrees. A 39-year radio veteran, he has worked at stations across the country. Three decades ago, many local radio owners owned stations in several states, he said. "They were considered chains back then," Harris said. "We still do business the way we did back then. We're charged with serving the community, and we do it better now then we ever have ... We never hear from Clear Channel about the operation of the station. It's run like a local radio station." Hannah Sassaman, program director of the Prometheus Radio Project, calls what's happened to broadcasting "an orgy of consolidation. ... We want to keep the FM dial as open as it can be."
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1171940137...