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DRAFT AMENDMENT FOR THE 2010 PLATFORM OF THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

CHAPTER 1: GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

Section title: Free speech and media reform

Section subtitle: Media reform for a stronger democracy

Our Position: Independent, aggressive and critical media are essential to an informed and healthy democracy. Access to information aids citizens in making responsible, informed choices and helps provide a “checking function” whether elected representatives are upholding their oaths of office and carrying out the wishes of those who elected them.

Unfortunately mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is increasingly compromised.

In response, Greens want to strengthen citizens' influence over the broadcast media, break up the dominant media conglomerates and boost the number of community and non-profit news outlets, to enhance the media's crucial watchdog function and to help create a more diverse and vigorous exchange of ideas in America.

Green Solutions

1. Return control of the public airwaves to the public. Corporate control of our broadcast airwaves has severely damaged our politics and culture.

2. Hold the media conglomerates to strict anti-monopoly standards, with vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws and rules.

3. Greater public oversight of commercial broadcast outlets. Outlets that violate strict public interest standards will lose their licenses.

4. More community radio, by expanding the licensing of new non-commercial low-power FM radio stations.

5. Net neutrality.

6. Broadband access for all Americans.

7. End commercial broadcasters' free licensed use of the public airwaves. Require market-priced leasing of any commercial use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

8. Free and equal airtime for all ballot-qualified political candidates on radio and television networks and stations.

9. Provide generous public funding for the National Public Broadcasting System to ensure high-quality news and cultural programming with the widest possible range of viewpoints.

10. Prohibit commercial advertising targeted to children under 12 years old, as well as advertising in public places such as schools, parks, and governmental buildings.

11. Oppose censorship in the arts, media, press and on the Internet.

12. Encourage Americans to watch less television, and instead to talk with their families, friends and neighbors, and to engage in myriad other constructive, artistic or healthful pursuits.

13. Reduce mailing costs for non-profit and independent magazines and journals, and eliminate them for those that receive less than 20% of their revenues from advertising.

14. Tax credits or government subsidies for state, local and investigative reporting by print media. All subsidies must be content-neutral.

15. Create an "Audience Network" empowered to take airtime from commercial television and radio stations, to broadcast a variety of non-commercial cultural, political, entertainment, scien­tific or other high-quality programs.

2004 TEXT OF FREE SPEECH AND MEDIA REFORM.

(This section was originally in Social Justice chapter of the 2004 platform.)

The Green Party seeks to improve the role mass media plays in political and daily life by encouraging the diversification of programming and news coverage, and increasing access to mass media.

Free speech and free press are constitutionally and politically guaranteed rights. Democracy requires a wide variety of opinions and information, which is not currently provided by corporate controlled media outlets. The Green Party calls for the establishment of citizen initiated and controlled radio and television stations. These citizen-managed media networks would be financed by requiring corporations to pay for the right to use our publicly owned air waves. Mechanisms must be established to prevent political manipulation and exploitation of this essential and valuable resource, so that all citizens are adequately informed.

The Green Party supports:

1. Returning ownership and control of the electromagnetic spectrum to the public. We urge the public to reclaim the public airwaves. The privatization of the broadcast airwaves – one of our most important taxpayer assets – has caused serious deformations of our politics and culture.

2. The problem is that private broadcasters control what the public owns. In return for free licenses to use taxpayer property, broadcasters give us a steady stream of increasingly coarse, redundant, superficial programming, and exclusively decide who says what on our public airwaves.

3. Market-priced leasing of any for-profit use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

4. Reasonable restriction on media consolidation, using a public interest standard.

5. Restoring of full public funding of the National Public Broadcasting System to provide in-depth coverage of issues and the widest possible range of viewpoints.

6. Community ownership of broadcast outlets and public oversight of licensing.

7. Free and equal airtime for political candidates on radio and television networks. [See section A.Political Reform in chapter I]

8. Taxing electronic advertising sales to fund democratic media outlets.

9. The repeal of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

10. The prohibition of commercial advertising in public places such as schools, parks, and governmental buildings.

11. Developing community radio, particularly those rule-making petitions before the FCC that allow for a new service of small, locally-owned FM stations.

12. Limiting the concentration of power that has characterized the telecommunications industry. We need a wide span of programming and information, genuine citizen access, diversity of views, respect for local community interests, news, public affairs and quality children’s programming. The FCC should closely monitor applications for license renewals to the public airwaves to ensure that these public interest criteria are met.

13. Opposing censorship in the arts, media (including the World Wide Web and Internet), and press. We encourage individual and social responsibility by artists, creative media, writers and all citizens.