Common Cause Blog

OneWeb Day

OneWeb Day is a celebration. We are celebrating the success and vitality of the internet. Our activities online have transformed from entertainment only activities to those vital for the functioning of our democracy. Join Common Cause in celebrating OneWeb Day!

From the online Rocky Mountain News

Unlike television, radio, or any other medium we have known, the Web has been built by the people who use it. We all share the Internet, and should share in shaping its future. Yet many of us take the Web for granted, assuming it will always be a place where the next "big idea" can thrive. Similarly, far too many who want Internet access cannot get it, shutting them out of modern society and depriving us all of their creativity. To bring attention to these threats and challenges, activists, academics and entrepreneurs around the globe are celebrating OneWebDay today. Akin to an Earth Day for the Web, the theme of this third annual OneWebDay focuses on the impact the Web has on participatory democracy.

Are telecom companies funding this convention?

In Denver, it's easy to get the feeling that the telecom companies are funding this convention. And it's pretty close to true. AT&T, Qwest, Verizon, and Comcast are heavily invested in the Denver DNC, and are similarly paying for a good chunk of the RNC next week. If you want to see a big special interest buying its way further into the halls of power, you've got it here. And anyone who cares about the future of the media, the internet, and the election system in this country should be getting mad.

On the ground in Denver, it's the little things that catch your attention - like almost every delegate has a lanyard around their neck that says "Qwest Qwest Qwest" (see the pics). When half the people you see have a Qwest band around their neck, you notice. And it gets in your head.

And then it's the parties. Of course, folks like me can't get in - but delegates, elected officials, lobbyists and their staffs usually can. AT&T is hosting a reception virtually every day, sometimes several. (Check out Sunlight's Party Time blog for some great coverage of the convention parties.) Yesterday I went to see who was at the AT&T-sponsored luncheon for "western delegates" only to get turned away at the door and informed that the event had been moved to a different fancy restaurant on the other side of town. Tuesday night I wandered past a private event sponsored by Verizon for Iowa delegates; they had reserved a café on the main drag through town and locked out the public, as you can see from the photo.

Those are the obvious images, but what's less visible to the naked eye is more significant.

Is this the "Internet Election"?

This morning at the Big Tent, Air America and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow hosted a discussion with Dr. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. The subject of the talk is how the internet is impacting the 2008 elections.

Maddow started out with pointing out that for the last several elections, broad claims have been made that the internet was making a major difference - but has it? Eric Schmidt responded that it is becoming more and more the case. His example of how the internet has recently made a big difference was how in the 2006 Senate races the GOP candidate in Virginia used the word "macaca" to describe a person of color, and it got around on Youtube, which may have been the pivotal point in that election. The viral nature of that video made a big difference in the shift of power in the US Senate.

Is that just increasing? It seems to be the case. More and more citizen journalism is emerging, and here at the Big Tent that is certainly evident.

The Power of the Alternative Media

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.

Media Symposium 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.

At the Big Tent

I am sitting here in Denver at The Big Tent seeing something that could not happen without net neutrality.

At this event (which we co-sponsored) there are hundreds of citizen journalists using the new media to create real time coverage of the Democratic National Convention, coverage about the coverage, commentary about it, commentary about the commentary, etc. The Internet's neutral nature is what allows this to thrive.

There are people here blogging for scores of different major websites like Daily Kos and Slate.com and smaller websites like www.turnmaineblue.com. There are people using videocameras to create content to post to youtube and other video websites. And through the online forums as well as the personal interaction here, we are seeing the same kind of "newsroom" collaboration that we are losing at the newspapers all across America as big corporations like News Corp gobble up local papers and force them to cut back on reporting and just fill their papers with nationally produced content.

The kind of collaboration you saw in "All the President's Men" is alive and well, and it's here in the Big Tent. But as I said earlier, without net neutrality, this could all go away.

Obama and McCain on Media Reform Issues

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.