A radical plan to allow large media companies in the US grow even bigger has been halted by an American anti-war internet campaign, writes Helen Shaw
It is a Daniel and Goliath story. Last week in Philadelphia, a federal appeals court granted ad-hoc group Prometheus Radio Project's petition to stop the implementation of radical new media ownership rules pending a judicial review. The controversial deregulation of cross-media ownership, passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last June, could now be delayed for months and some of the rules may be revisited.
The ruling came just a day before the new rules were to take effect and, in this particular case, the fire Prometheus stole was from not just the FCC but from the four TV giants who joined the case, including Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group, NBC and Sumner Redstone's Viacom - the largest media group in the world.
Yet as late as last March the public debate on the FCC rulings was practically non-existent, confined to the websites of media lobby groups such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). Due to the dominant control of the main six conglomerates in news media, the impact of the ruling which would allow one company to own newspapers and radio/television stations in the same city or for cable companies to own TV networks was given little if any coverage. Even quality newspapers such as the New York Times only moved its reportage from the business pages just weeks before the June ruling.
The FCC itself admits it received over 2.3 million petitions protesting the changes from a broad coalition of forces from the National Organisation for Women to the National Rifle Association. Even the US Confederation of Catholic Bishops came out clearly against any further deregulation of the media. But in June the ruling went through in a split vote of three to two, with both Democrat Commissioners voting against the changes.
Many observers thought the June ruling would end the debate. The FCC, after all, has the might of the Bush administration and support behind it. Its chair is none other than Colin Powell's son, Michael. But the quiet rumbling which had started from March gathered momentum. The anti-war internet movement which, through sites such as MoveOn.org had mobilised people to petitions and rallies, had grown a subscription of at least a million by the beginning of the war.
Activists such as Eli Pariser, a New Yorker in his early 20s, who began the anti-war action last year on a lap-top in his flat, linked with older more resourced sites across the country so that, by the beginning of the war, the energy behind the anti-war movement on the net was channelled into other actions, such as a campaign against the FCC media rules and a lobby to motivate the Democrat campaign and support key candidates such as Howard Dean. The activism of the dozens of web-sites and e-mail chains showed the ability of the internet to create an alternative media and, indeed, to force non-consensus views back into the mainstream media place.
By June, as the FCC was assuming the debate was over for both the public and the politicians, the debate had only begun. A multi-billion communications engine had been stalled by a combination of people power, the internet and the federal courts.
For its opponents, the new media rules spell danger for democracy. For many, the lack of questioning in the media - not just in the run-up to the Iraq war but post the 9/11 attacks - was a clear message that giving more power to less owners might not be in the public's interest.
For the FCC, the unthinkable is now happening. The new pro-conglomerate rules which a year ago seemed only to be resisted by the fringes are now facing walls not just in the courts but in Congress. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate, responding to the wave of public interest - often on e-mail - are reviewing the rules.
What the cyberspace Daniels have achieved is to force a full-scale, open debate on the impact of media ownership on not just information but on the nature of democratic society itself. Given the powers ranged against them, it is no small achievement to win their day in court.
Of course, the gods did exact a pretty terrible revenge on Prometheus.