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Senator Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders
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Current Office: U.S. Senate
Seniority: Junior Seat
First Elected: 11/07/2006
Last Elected: 11/07/2006
Next Election: 2012
Party: Independent
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BiographicalVoting RecordIssue Positions
(Political Courage Test)Interest Group RatingsPosition PapersSpeeches and Public StatementsAdditional Biographical InformationCampaign Finances
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Title: Issue Position: Corporate Control of the Media
Date:
Issue Position
Issue Position: Corporate Control of the Media
Nearly 60 years ago, the Supreme Court declared that "the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public, that a free press is essential to the condition of a free society." Unfortunately today, a handful of huge multinational conglomerates control more and more of what we read, hear, and see.
Today a mere five companies own the broadcast networks and many of the top 50 cable networks, produce three-quarters of all prime time programming, and control 70 percent of the prime time television market share. At the same time, one-third of America's independently-owned television stations have vanished since 1975.
Media consolidation stifles diversity and ignores the needs and interests of communities. For example, the FCC has concluded that local ownership leads to more local news. It issued a report —which some senior officials tried to suppress—that stated that locally owned broadcasters devote, on average, an additional 20 to 25 percent of their newscasts to local news stories. That translates to approximately 5.5 more minutes per half hour broadcast.
We need programming that is responsive to local needs and responsible to the people. Senator Sanders has been a leader in the fight to stop media consolidation and return public interest obligations to broadcasters. He will continue to work hard in the Senate to make sure that we hold all media companies responsible for providing content that serves the public and offers a diverse range of opinions.
http://sanders.senate.gov/issues/media.cfm
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