WASHINGTON-Fifty-eight arts, education and consumer groups signed off on a July 11 letter to five congressmen to “express*…*profound dismay” on their recent letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt advocating free distribution of spectrum to broadcasters.
The Center for Media Education, the Media Access Project and People for the American Way are spearheading what they are calling a grassroots effort to inform the consuming public of “corporate welfare at its worst”-the pressure being put on the commission to back off of any broadcast spectrum auctioning, according to Gigi Sohn, deputy director of the Media Access Project.
Their first effort-the letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) and Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.)-said in part, “We have repeatedly urged members of Congress to auction the second `digital’ channel, with a portion of the income going to support noncommercial educational and informational programming, services and infrastructure development or `public service media.’ “
A second group-developed initiative targets Congress, the presidential campaigns and the media. Using statistics taken from government agencies and professional papers, the group detailed what individual projects $40 billion-its middle-ground estimate of what auctioned digital broadcast spectrum would bring-could finance in the public interest, including:
funding eight years of the National School Lunch Program;
buying every child 24 textbooks a year for the entire K-12 school experience;
covering prenatal costs for every baby born during the next two years;
running all 368 national parks through 2010, including eliminating the $4 billion backlog of repairs;
building 5,882 new elementary schools;
ensuring safe drinking water for the next 18 years;
wiring every schoolroom and library for Internet access along with providing one computer for every five students; or
providing a $343 tax refund to taxpaying families.
At a press conference last week, Jill Lesser, deputy director of public policy for People for the American Way, also pointed out that today’s modern politics, with its emphasis on instant communications and voter feedback via the Internet and various home pages, does not depend as heavily on broadcast media to convey its message; thus, broadcasters who continue to cloak themselves in the mantle of “public interest” are losing ground.
“Congress needs to re-evaluate the definition of `public service,’ ” she said. “Public money and public property must be used correctly.”
The group hopes presidential hopeful Bob Dole will continue with his support of broadcast auctions, a subject he defended as Senate majority leader, and that President Clinton will change his mind once the public becomes outraged at the proposed spectrum giveaway.
David Keating of the National Taxpayers Union plans to talk to whoever is the Reform Party candidate.
The National Association of Broadcasters could not be reached for comment.
