Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Support H.R. 2462, the "Protect Diversity in Media Act"

Dear Representative ,

Nearly 2 million people have now contacted the Federal Communications Commission about its June 2 revision of media ownership rules. Almost all of them opposed the Commission's plan to repeal or weaken many of the few remaining checks on the dominance of big media companies.

To protect our democracy and the ability of citizens to have access to the information we need to make informed choices, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor and actively support the "Protect Diversity in Media Act" (H.R. 2462), which would rescind all of the new rules made by the FCC, and prohibit the Commission from conducting any more of the biennial reviews of broadcast media ownership rules that were mandated under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

According to the new rules, mergers between TV stations and newspapers will be allowed in over 190 media markets representing 98 percent of the American population. One quarter of American television viewers could soon seen television stations in their markets owned three to a company. A full 70% could soon see mergers and acquisitions to outfit each company with two stations each. Particularly vulnerable are rural areas and medium-size media markets where a monopoly newspaper could merge with the dominant television station in the community and substantially control the majority of information available to local citizens. These developments are unacceptable and totally undermine democratic media based on localism, diversity, and competition.

Please take a strong stand for the health and survival of our precious democratic process by supporting H.R. 2462 and doing everything you can to ensure its passage.

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