Evil Tentacles & Clear Channel -- One and The Same?
Recently in this space mention was made of how Orwellian some things seem. The media monoliths seem to have all sorts of power, their tentacles reaching far and wide.
Some readers may have noticed a link over on the right, to the site, clearchannelsucks.org [1]. This is a site reporting on the daily doings of this media giant, the acquisitive and controlling behemoth known as Clear Channel [2].
Recent attempts to log onto clearchannelsucks.org [1] are met with this result:
Warning: Access denied for user: 'root@localhost [3]' (Using password: YES) in /home/web/www.clearchannelsucks.org/pnadodb/adodb-mysql.inc.php on line 106
Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Access denied for user: 'root@localhost [3]' (Using password: YES) in /home/web/www.clearchannelsucks.org/pnadodb/adodb-mysql.inc.php on line 106
mysql://root:@localhost/Rogue [4] failed to connectAccess denied for user: 'root@localhost [3]' (Using password: YES)
Surely someone out there reading this with more tech knowledge than yours truly has some inkling as to what on earth this may mean. To me it is just gibberish. To all of us, though, it means our access to this site has been cut off.
Hmmm. Makes one wonder.
Over At The Radio Wave [5] site Editor Ian MacRae posted an item about clearchannelsucks.org being ìoff the airî ñ well, off of clickable online access, of late. It appeared in Issue#20, published September 7th, 2003:
Given the undecipherable gobbledygook one sees when attempting to saccess the page, it is easy to think there is some conspiratorial hacking at work.
Of course, Clear Channel is known for bringing suit against its competitors, then buying them. Radio insiders will think of Inside Radio, where it was the battle of the snarky editor versus the huge monolith. CC bought IR, after their somewhat public fight.
CC is headquarted in the Lone Star State, and is run by a group of Dubya-lovers.
The Moral Of The Story
Clear Channel is a powerful media company. It is big, huge, cash-rich [6], and is in favor with the current administration. CC is a Dubya-lovin' company, if ever there was one. It is in CC's best interests for the FCC's Proposed Rulemaking to go through. This, despite their protestations that the new rules are actually ones that would work against them in some markets.
CC has already laid the groundwork [7] to make acquisitions and to enact further growth plans in the event that the Rulemaking is adopted.
So what to do? No one person is in a position to take on so huge and formidable as opponent as Clear Channel. But acting as a part of a united effort, one can make one's voice heard.
A crushing blow can be delivered to the major media companies who are fueling the fires of FCC Commissioner Michael Powell's efforts to enable them to continuously expand.
What can one person do? The answer is simple. Do this: click over to Media Reform [8]. Sign their petition [9]. Let these organized efforts communicate your feelings to the politicians.
Why did so many Republican and Democratic members of The House and The Senate come out against the FCC Proposed Rulemaking, and do so in a very public manner? Here's why: because Media Reform [10], Common Cause [11], and a host of other groups brought the voice of the people to their attention.
Petitions, e-mail and telephone campaigns, letter-writing campaigns, and the willingness of the regular Janes and Joes (read: voters!) who comprise the grass roots public made them take notice.
As an individual one can make one's voice heard by joining in the efforts of groups that are organized and working to help further the voice of the people.
This is a bipartisan issue. Right or Left, the issues of big-media concentrated ownership in the hands of a scant few is a threat to all of us. When the ability to control media (and thus the dissemination of news, information, entertainment, et al) us cintrolled by a mere handful, the ability of the lesser voice to be heard is minimized. And the access of the voice of the opposition --in a free society-- is severly compromised.
So do your part. Either join the efforts of these organizations, or just act as an individual, and write a letter or send an e-mail to your Congressional Representative or your Senators.
Common Cause has a petition you can sign [12] that speaks directly to The President's pledge to veto any bill that would get in the way of Michael Powell's FCC-sponsored Media Giveaway of broadcasting to the giants. This is a president who wants to win when he runs again. Let him know that the people do not want him to veto what they have made clear is their choice of policy.
Make yours one of the voices that is being heard.