Letter From Paul Sawyer, Chair of DMLP

March 13, 2002

Dear Democratic Media Legal Project Board Members, Advisors, and Friends

We are at a very critical point in our struggle to save our democratic media. In this world where media now dominate most of what we see and hear, and thus think and believe. This means that democracy itself is in the gravest danger.

Already a dozen or so huge telecommunication conglomerates monopolize power over most movie production, record making, book publishing, TV, radio broadcasting, and newspapers. Now the Federal Communications Commission, in collusion with conservative Federal Courts in the D.C. Area, propose to loosen or even scuttle the already too lenient regulations that control one owner having more than 35% of the national market coverage, or cross ownership in both a TV station and the newspaper of a city, or owning TV stations and the cable franchise in an area. Just this week, a recording artist’s coalition challenged the radio monopolies that stifle their livelihood and a writers guild complained of the monopolistic curtailment of their trade by both movie and book publishing monopolies.

The narrow range of opinion and information that passes for news and discourse, that basically propagates the big corporate sell, war in defense of empire, and the power of the well-to-do, is evidence enough of the give-away and take-over of our publicly-owned airwaves. Oligarchies and their bought politicians are in the saddle and they ride we the people.

We the people. What a sweet phrase. We the people are the constitutional governing body and these are our airwaves the media ride. How do we get back effective power over them. Not by parading the streets of Washington as angels. Not by begging an FCC to enforce a Telecommunications Act that was written by lobbyists of the National Association of Broadcasters.--- not by waiting for the Congress who are largely funded for reelection by these same corporations, dependent upon their goodwill for coverage by their media.

No our constitutional challenge to the present system of administering and allocating the use of the people’s airwaves on 1st and 14th Amendment grounds, this is the only show in town. And it must be backed by a growing media activist movement. The best defense is an offense!

Right now this is going to take money. Gifts small and big are needed. Most of our research is done, but we need $30,000 more, right now to write up and file our case complaint here in Federal Court in California. ASAP!

Each dollar for the next $1500. will be matched, so I'm going to dig in deep and give $300 of that now. So along with reading this letter, and the enclosed minutes from our Board’s last meeting, and putting in your calendars the May 11th next meeting of our Board; search your hearts and your wallets to see how much you might be able to give to jump-start our case. Then we'll go out and try to raise the rest from the many folks, who know as we do, the dire straits through which we perilously proceed.

Yours for the Democratic Media Legal Project,

Paul Sawyer, Chair

P.S. Great News ! Jonathan Lubell, our lead lawyer is on a panel at an important St. John's University Conference March 23rd, looking at the future of Media Freedom. On the panel are Nolan Bowie of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, in addition to the Legal Counsel for the FCC. This will give us a good opportunity of having our perspective heard in an important forum.