FCC panelists announced
April 26, 2007 at 4:33 pm by Wayne GarciaThe FCC has announced the panelists for the Monday public hearing on media ownership in Tampa, and there are a few intriguing names. Former Fox 13 investigative reporter Steve Wilson is on one panel, along with Media General broadcast news division VP Dan Bradley and ABC Action News’ GM Bill Carey. A second panel will examine diversity in the market and features a broad range of minority media owners and practitioners.
Wilson and his wife, Jane Akre, were fired from Fox 13 after the station refused to run an investigative piece they reported on growth hormones used on cattle. They sued the station to mixed results, and CL’s John Sugg has detailed in numerous articles the pair’s status as left-media cause celebre’s and the story behind their court battle, including how the pair have raised money for their legal funds while buying a $1.4 million home in north Florida. (Wilson has taken exception to Sugg’s reporting.)
For more on the FCC hearing, check out my cover story here.
Here is the revised FCC agenda:
4:00 p.m. Welcome/Opening Remarks
4:30 p.m. Panel Discussion 1: Market Overview / Tampa, Florida Case Study
Dan Bradley, Media General Vice President of News for Broadcast
Bill Carey, General Manager of WFTS-TV and Incoming President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Robert Dardenne, Associate Professor in Journalism and Media Studies at Univ. of South Florida-St. Petersburg
Steve Erlanger, President, Hometown News
Ronald Gordon, President of ZGS Broadcast Holdings
Jim Johnson, Publisher of State of Sunshine, a political blog covering the state of Florida
Eric Klinenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University
Patrick Manteiga, Editor and Publisher of La Gaceta
Pat Roberts, President of the Florida Association of Broadcasters
Art Rowbotham, President of Hall Communications
Steve Wilson, Investigative Journalist5:30 p.m. Public Comments
7:30 p.m. Break
8:00 p.m. Panel Discussion 2: Perspectives on Media Ownership
Gerardo Reyes-Chavez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Glenn Cherry, President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Tama Broadcasting
Roswell Clarke, Director of Technical Operations and System Admin., Cox Radio-Tampa
Bob D’Andrea, President of the Christian Television Network
Dr. Karen Brown Dunlap, President of The Poynter Institute
Bob Gremillion, President, CEO and Publisher of the South Florida Sentinel
Carol Jenkins, President of The Women’s Media Center
Larry Lee, Jr., Owner of WFLM-FM/WIRA(AM), Port St. Lucie, Florida
Luis Lopez, Director of Public Relations, Hispanic Alliance of Tampa Bay
Carlina Rodriguez, Director of Organizing Spanish Language, Screen Actors Guild of America
Sam Rosenwasser, President and General Manager of WTSP(TV)
Rich Templin, Communications Director, Florida AFL-CIO9:00 p.m. Public Comments
11:00 p.m. Wrap-Up/Adjournment
The moderator will be Louis Sigalos, Chief of the Consumer Affairs & Outreach Division, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC
April 27th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Wow, did anyone notice that the first panel has no women? So much for diversity.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Yes, it does say a lot about the state of media diversity in Tampa Bay when the panel on the state of the market is 100% male.
April 28th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
I received an email from a guy present at the ‘fcc hearing’ in memphis who stated that most of the two hours of public discussion was ’stacked’ and that NOT ONE of these people even spoke of medai ownership.
Reminiscent of Bush’s selected audiences.
It’s interesting to me how so many people did NOT make it on these panels while someone (one right blogger) with lillte to no knowledge (self-admitted) who has already decided that media ‘conglomeration’ (read monopolization/censorship) is just peachy made it on to the panel.
This is a joke .. if’s a JOKE that this question would even be asked. From a twenttysixorso year old on bush’s transition team.
Dear America:
Do you mind if Rupert controls everything you read???
America: UH YEAH, dumbass what do YOU think,
This is a sham.
It’s also very dangerous.
Democracy is on the line and some pretend not to notice.
And, they are on panels.
April 29th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
“This is a sham.
It’s also very dangerous.
Democracy is on the line and some pretend not to notice.
And, they are on panels.”
I felt the same way when Joe Millionaire was cancelled. I really was sadened when Evan and Zora were going to be together forever. Who knew it wouldn’t last?