WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, civil rights organizations, unions and public interest groups held a press teleconference to urge the Federal Communications Commission to stop its rush to lift longstanding media ownership limits. The groups called on the FCC to delay any action on media ownership rules until it first analyzes the impact of proposed changes on women and people of color.

To listen to the full press conference go to: http://soundcloud.com/freepress-sound/free-press-media-ownership

The featured speakers on the call were:

Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president, Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Wade Henderson, president and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Bernie Lunzer, president, The Newspaper Guild-CWA
Mee Moua, president, Asian American Justice Center
Alex Nogales, president and CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition
Rashad Robinson, executive director, ColorOfChange.org
Craig Aaron, president and CEO, Free Press

Background:

Numerous press reports indicate the FCC is considering a plan that would allow for greater media consolidation — though the agency has not scheduled a public hearing or open meeting on the issue.

In 2011, a federal appeals court instructed the FCC to study the impact of any rule changes on ownership diversity before making any changes. The agency thus far has failed to comply with this obligation. According to the FCC's latest census, people of color own just 3.6 percent of all full-power TV stations and 8 percent of radio stations; women own less than 7 percent of all broadcast outlets.

In a letter 12 leading civil and human rights organizations recently sent to the FCC, the groups called on the agency "to seek public comment on the Commission’s recently released ownership data before making any changes to the current media ownership rules."