Media reform movement gaining steam

In the face of rampant media consolidation, Canadians are finally beginning to get organized and fight back under the banner of the recently formed Canadians for Democratic Media. This grassroots network recently organized a major initiative to lobby the CRTC against further media consolidation, and surely has more campaigns in the works to keep the pressure on.

Canadians for Democratic Media co-ordinator Steve Anderson has just published an excellent commentary in B.C.’s independent online news source The Tyee outlining the seriousness of the threat Canadians face from rampant media consolidation. Anderson closes with a quote from former U.S. federal communications commissioner Nicholas Johnson, whose words bear repeating again and again:

“Whatever is your first priority, whether it’s women’s rights or civil rights or environmental concerns, your second priority simply has to be media reform. Because with that, the progressive community has a hope, and without it, you don’t have a hope.”