Musicians unite to address media consolidation

Billy Bragg, Steve Earle and other musicians concerned about the effects of media consolidation are winding up a 13-city concert tour to raise awareness of the issue. The “Tell Us The Truth” tour launched Nov. 7 at the National Conference on Media Reform in Madison, Wis. and ends Monday in Washington, D.C. In addition to Bragg and Earle, the remaining leg of the tour will include performances from Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello (performing as The Nightwatchman), Lester Chambers, Jill Sobule and Boots Riley. Actress-comedian Janeane Garofalo will act as master of ceremonies.

The main issue the tour’s artists and sponsors are addressing is a June decision by the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership rules. The new ruling allows a single corporation to own up to three TV stations, eight radio Stations and one daily newspaper in the same media market.

Common Cause spokesperson Elizabeth Jenkins said her organization took an active stance in shedding light on consolidation at the time of the vote, and is hoping to inform even more people as a tour sponsor.

“These rules allow more and more large companies to control a lot of the media outlets in one area,” Jenkins said. “One voice will control a lot of what’s put out in the news.”

R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, who finished his stint on the tour Nov. 16 in Atlanta, said a more cultural effect of consolidation is that it stifles variety.

“Anyone can have the empirical evidence of listening to radio stations in different cities and hearing all of the same songs,” Mills said. “It homogenizes the culture of the U.S., which has always been built on diversity.”

Jenkins said having only one source of information has a negative impact on the public’s ability to make decisions.

“It really affects democracy,” she said. “People aren’t as informed.”

Mills agreed, claiming “democracy thrives on the exchange of information.” With media consolidation, the lack of information being received by the public will only get worse, he said. But with this tour, he and the other musicians involved hope to see a groundswell of opinion on the issue.

“I do believe that if people have access to more information, they can make more informed decisions and might be galvanized into action,” Mills said.

Other tour sponsors include Free Press, Future of Music Coalition, Axis of Justice and the AFL-CIO. For more information about the tour, visit www.tellusthetruth.org.

Remaining “Tell Us The Truth” tour dates:

Nov. 21 – Glenside, Pa. @ Kenswick Theater

Nov. 22 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

Nov. 23 – Boston, Mass. @ Berklee Performance Center

Nov. 24 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club

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