A26-Welcome the FCC at SF city hall

media folks talk about
how bad the corporate media is now.


a26 sf city hall

much thanks to kpoo for the hard line to city hall !!

my speech to the FCC at SF city hall
( FULL TEXT , HAD TO DROP 2 PAGES FOR TIME )

April 26, 2003

FCC Public Hearing on Media Consolidation and Ownership SF 4-26-03


Thank you for allowing me to speak today

about how Media Ownership and Consolidation

has affected the labor workforce in the broadcast industry.

I am a radio engineer from Modesto California

I am here today to share with you my experience with media consolidation
...
.

Prior to 1996, there were at least a dozen fully staffed radio stations

with independent owners in the Modesto, Ca. market.

This allowed for several full time on air personalities,

at least one Chief engineer

and many support and office staff to make a living at each

and every radio station .....,,,



Since the telecommunication act of 1996,

there are only two main corporations,

who control those dozen radio stations,

and the staff of one station pre Telcom 96

must now runs 5 6 or 8 stations. ....

Once the larger corporations were allowed

to incress the number of radio stations they

could legal own and operate from one location

they began consolidating office space and staff

This meant elimination of many full time jobs,

and those who were kept on staff were made to work harder

and longer without compensation for the increase in responsibility.

People would put in overtime hours to cover the cut backs in staff,

yet they would not be fairly paid for it.

On air talent was finding it much harder to get work in the area

and even adjacent markets, when there are only two companies

owning the majority of broadcast stations.



You see After your station was bought out by Citadel or Clear Channel,

you were likely to be laid off

And because of consolidation there were less and less options

for jobs within the radio industry .

Since Clear Channel and other large broadcasters

began buying up what were once

local and independent Radio stations all over the country,

its now very hard to find a job in radio

without having to work for Cheap Channel ,

that is if they even had any new job openings.

Typically these newly corporatized stations

employe a salary *and* a hiring freeze .


I had been working for more then a decade

as a radio engineer for a large Modesto station

And also at the same time as a engineer at another group of stations ,

then those two companies were bought-out

by what's now known as Clear Channel

no longer was I working for two companies that competed for my
technical services

I found myself working more hours for less pay

and more importantly for only one company that had planed all along

to build out there 6 station cluster with the companies own audio

automation system. Weather it was y2k complaint or not.

I kept very busy working for few years after telcom 96

breaking down long time local stations

and moving them into the corporate buildings...

maybe everyone else was busy to ,

to busy to ask why we built 5 stations in one building

with out any newsrooms.


Soon after the construction of this radio cluster was completed

I was told my job was to be cut to part-time

Or clear channel would give me one full week of severance pay

if wanted to quit.

Then I was illegally terminated over a private Email

I had written from my home computer regarding

the illegal actives Clear channel perpetrates on there own employees

such as a policy against paying overtime as required by state law,

equal opportunity employment issues

employing underage children for dangerous antenna tower work

numerous technical as well as osha safety violations

and recurring sexual harassment in the workplace.


I currently have a wrongful termination case against Clear Channel,

* I have won two other lawsuits against Clear Channel *
in regards to Overtime PaY and Workers Comp.

I am here today to speak for the victims

of the mega-corporate broadcast industry.

My wife was a disc jockey, news reporter and public affairs director.

She was laid off and can not work in this market

due to the consolidation.

She is not the only victim of this industry.

This McRadio is clearly a nationwide media crisis.

There are countless numbers of talented radio people

Who are unable to get re hired due to the stranglehold

corporations like Clear Channel have on the local radio markets.

I urge you to reconsider the Telecommunications Act of 96,

and to consider all the jobs that were eliminated

when multiple ownership limits were lifted.

If clear channel has over 1200 stations

this may represents as many as 10,000 layoffs

We know clear channel laid off 600 workers in June alone last year!

What's more , we know that each time a DJ is laid off

Local access to the public's airwaves is equally diminished


Radio used to have a fairly high job turnover rate,

but now automation and non-local programming

fed by satellite and computer networks means little or no opportunity

for local DJ's and Engineers to develop there talents

many of those still working in the business play dirty pool

or more likely wave the flag to keep their jobs

and feed there family's..

Squelching diversification and promoting cookie cutter radio

is not in the publics interest

Breaking labor laws and not paying overtime

to employees is criminal behavior

It should also be noted that three people,
including two children were killed in North Carolina
while working on a 1,500 foot tall radio tower
belonging to WFMX(FM) a Clear Channel station


Please do not consider further consolidation

of the media or mandatory digital audio broadcasting.

I also believe the commission should require cable tv providers

to cary any and all local broadcaster

That provide the 3 hours or more a week of local programming,

My home town ,,,, Modesto ,

is a a area with out any community minded radio stations

we have been fighting With AT&T and now comcast , cable ...........


who refuse,,,,

to allow the Modesto low power community tv station
,,,
access to modesto's cable TV system.

How can any person town or city access the airwaves

when they are under regulateed,

under corporate control

and sold to the highest bidder??


Thank You

Brad / Radio Engineer

http://www.netfeed.com/~jhill