Lateefah Simon: “some of my colleagues may remember that when the new telecommunications law was before the Senate, I offered an…”

“some of my colleagues may remember that when the new telecommunications law was before the Senate, I offered an amendment to limit the expansion of radio station ownership by any one corporation or any one individual. That amendment was tabled by a vote of 64 to 34. The other day I read an article by Prof. Jerry Landay, former broadcast journalist, who now teaches at the University of Illinois. The article appeared in the Christian Science Monitor under the title. ``The Rush To Gulp U.S. Radio Stations.'' I ended up voting against the bill even though I know there were some good things in it. But diversity in ownership is good for all the media. I don't like the concentration of ownership that is taking place in newspapers, but that is not a federally regulated entity. Radio stations and television stations are federally regulated, and we have every right to demand diversity of ownership and not monopolistic or oligarchical practices.”