Joe Torres at Free Press posted a blog yesterday titled "Hate Speech Rises in the Media" which gives some examples of the increase of hate speech in the mainstream media.

ANY hate speech is more than our society should have, but it's especially alarming when it is increasing. So where are the voices to counter the hate speech? Silenced. Not by force. Not by intimidation. But by the media ownership structure.

People of color who are being attacked by talking heads in the media have little capacity to respond or frame the message themselves because they can't get into the media market.

The sky is falling on Wall Street and now more than ever we need all the information we can detailing the possible impacts for Americans. What are the news stories about the financial bailout telling you? Do we know any real details about proposed legislation? How many and what kinds of experts have been asked about these details? Where are the headlines with possible outcomes for Colorado? All I can find are articles mentioning the bailout, only to have the rest of the article about horse race campaign issues.

We see the same headlines in every newspaper in every town. Where are the guts of the stories?

We need a diverse marketplace of ideas in times like these, not superficial headlines that are sent down to all the local newspapers and TV stations from just a few corporate owners. Look at what several Colorado newspapers are running and notice that all but one are written by the Associated Press, instead of local journalists.

The Denver Post Bailout defeated in House; stocks plunge (Associated Press)
The Rocky Mountain News Stunning defeat in House for economic bailout; stock plunge a record (Associated Press)
Durango Herald Durango businesses feel the crunch (local story)
The Pueblo Chieftain DENIED! - House defeats $700B financial markets bailout (Associated Press)
Daily Camera Stunning defeat for economy bailout; stocks plunge (Associated Press)
The Coloradoan House rejects bailout plan (Associated Press)

Today is Constitution Day.

221 years ago, the United States Constitution was crafted to guide the great experiment known as American democracy.

Four years later, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, were ratified and became law of the land. The First Amendment does something not found in any other part of the Constitution or its amendments. It protects one particular industry - the press. (Read our media reform plan for a new administration)

Why?

Simply said, a democracy can not function properly without the press informing the public, exposing voters to the marketplace of ideas, and holding public officials accountable.

But here's how the founders of our country put it...

I have to give a lot of credit to the American public. As the mainstream media headed down in quality, we the people decided to take action and instead of just whining or resigning ourselves, we decided to create our own media.

There is no better example of that than here in Denver right now. The hundreds of bloggers at the Big Tent, the public access show producers crawling all over town with cameras, and the alternative media are all doing what the mainstream media isn't.

While the big cable news networks are focused on parsing the words in speeches to try to determine the impact on the horse race for president, the citizen media is out there reporting on everything from what is going on with the police in Denver during the DNC to how well the "greenness" of the convention is working.

Yesterday at the Big Tent events in Denver, we held a workshop titled "Is Civil Discourse a Civil Right?". Right to left in the photo are:

• Alex Nogales, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition,
  
• Cathryn Hazouri, Executive Director of the ACLU of Colorado,
  
• Mark Lloyd, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Affiliate Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University,
  
• and yours truly acting as the moderator.

We had a lively discussion about how access to the media, including media ownership, public access and net neutrality impact the communities fighting for their civil rights. Alex Nogales pointed out how Latinos in America have their civil rights violated day after day by the impact of hate speech on radio and TV. Cathryn Hazouri pointed out that from the perspective of the ACLU, she opposes censorship of the media to deal with hate speech, but does support the idea of a modernized version of the Fairness Doctrine so that issues are presented in a truly fair and balanced way. Among other issues that Mark Lloyd talked about, he brought up how the Digital TV Transition might impact low income and minority communities more than others, and take away their access to the information they need to participate in our democracy, unless they get the word now about how to be prepared for the transition.

This is just a short snapshot of the event, we went over our allotted hour. It was videotaped, so we hope to get that video out online in the future and possibly distributed on public access.  

In general though, while these discussions might not be happening over at the DNC Convention, they ARE happening here in Denver at the Big Tent.

Today is the Common Cause sponsored Media Symposium at the Big Tent in Denver. The goal of the day is to bring issues of media reform to the alternative media that is gathered here at the Big Tent as well as to many of the DNC delegates who are in town.

We have gotten started today with an address by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein (introduced by Common Cause President Bob Edgar). Commissioner Adelstein made a clear call for stopping and reversing media consolidation, increasing media diversity and protecting net neutrality. He specifically called for the tax certificate for minority media ownership, which we called for in our recent plan for media reform in a new administration. As the day moves forward, come back to view more reports on the day's activities at our media symposium.

Where do the two major party candidates stand on the media reform issues we highlight in our new report, "Media and Democracy in America Today: A Reform Plan for a New Administration"?

It's a mixed bag.

McCain has a strong record of supporting Low Power FM Radio, increasing diversity of media ownership, funding public broadcasting and free air time for campaigns. However, he has opposed stopping media consolidation and is against net neutrality.

Obama on the other hand has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality and has actively opposed media consolidation. While generally good on most of the issues we highlight in the new report, he has less of a record to show for it.

And there are gaps in our knowledge. That's why we would like to hear from their campaigns and anyone else who can tell us where they stand on issues like reforming the processes at the Federal Communications Commission and if they support PEG Access TV.

We have a full chart of their stands on the issues we raise in our new report - as far as we know them. Check it out, and let us know if you have any more information.

Today I am proud to release Common Cause's plan for media reform. The report, titled "Media and Democracy in America Today: A Reform Plan for a New Administration," lays out a plan of action for the next President and Congress to take to ensure the media performs its appropriate role in our democracy.

This was a major undertaking, and I want to thank all who participated from within and without Common Cause to help put it together. Now the key thing is to make the recommendations in this report a reality.

That's going to take several things.

It's going to take other bloggers and journalists to spread the word about what needs to be done.

It's going to take politicians to listen to the people and take action on these recommendations.

And the biggest thing is that it is going to take the public to make some noise about how important these issues are to our democracy!

We're here to help facilitate the making of noise by you the people. Let's have our voices heard.

The text of our press release follows below: