Natl Association of Broadcasters Execs Exposed!

NAB Executives: People Behind the Power

by Peter Phillips, Director Project Censored

Edward O. Fritts is President and CEO of NAB. He oversees the miltimillion dollar lobbying efforts on behalf of the corporate media. Edward is a very civic minded individual serving on the National Commission Against Drunk Drivers, Partners for a Drug- Free America, Center for Disease Control, White House Private Sector Initiative, Arlington Hospital Foundation, and the National Museum for Women and the Arts. Edward also see his job as requiring him to protect the $200 billion dollars of advertising money that drives corporate media in the United States. Any preceived threat to this revenue flow, like the licensing of 700 microradio stations, is strongly resisted.

Edward's personal assistant is Rory Bensen, Executive Vice President. Perhaps Rory fills in for Edward attending those $1000 dollar a plate congressional fund raisers that are so necessary for campaign financing in the US political system. It may be that Rory helps with lobbying efforts to restrict campaign finance reform, in order to insure the continued revenue stream of campaign spending into the corporate media.

James C. May is Executive Vice President of Governmental Relations for NAB. Perhaps it was James who arranged for the wives of congressmen to do national TV and radio public service announcements. It certainly didn't hurt the NAB political agenda to feature spouses of congressional decision makers in Washington.Maybe James likes to make calls to Senators. A call might go like this: "Senator Bob, we need your vote on the anti-microradio bill. Give us your support and we will arrange an national interview on Larry King."

Jeff (Henry) Bauman is Vice President & General Counsel for NAB. Maybe it was Henry who recommended that the NAB demonstrators who chained themselves together in the entrance to the Moscone Center be hidden behind visual screens so that NAB conventioneers would not have to see them.

Jennifer Livengood is the Manager of NAB National Campaigns. Was Jennifer a key player in the push last year to have the Federal Communications Commission allow media corporations to own two TV stations in the same market?
Certainly inviting Colon Powell to speak at NAB's national convention helped create good feelings betwen Powell's son Michael, who serves on the FCC, and NAB.

Vivian Pollard is Executive Vice President of NAB's Information Resources Center. Vivian must have to work hard to explain how Clear Channels' ownership of 8 radio stations in a single market is good for the public interest, and how the corporate media takeovers of over half of all radio stations in the US since 1996 is to the benefit of the American public.

These are only six of the top 55 executives for NAB listed in the directory of Associations. They are the lobbyists for the powerful, the behind-the-scene policy manipulators of First Amendment and the individuals who resist media democracy. We must pull off the covers of these hidden persuaders, and speak truth to power.