MAP's End of the Year Update

As we reach the holiday season, I want to update MAP's community of friends and supporters by sharing some highlights from this past year. MAP's reputation for talent, integrity and effectiveness continues to grow, and I have never been more proud of MAP's accomplishments.

MAP's continued success in its challenge to the FCC's broadcast ownership rules has certainly been the most visible of MAP's victories. As you may recall, MAP obtained a stay of the FCC's new rules more than two years ago. Last fall, a number of the largest broadcasters asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, but MAP successfully opposed this request. One important part of that effort was convincing the Department of Justice and the FCC to join in this opposition. The next step is a "do over" at the FCC, but this time the proceeding will be conducted under more favorable conditions set out by the appeals court in Philadelphia. The case has been awaiting FCC action since last spring, but Chairman Martin has chosen to wait until he has a Republican majority. Since a stay is in place, the delay poses no problems.

There is, of course, much more. Given the technical nature of legal and policy proceedings, it is often difficult to quantify the impact of MAP's work and accomplishments on local communities. However, as in the past, during the last year MAP has made a difference in communities across the country by consistently fighting for citizens' rights to accessible and accurate information. I want to spotlight three areas of MAP's work this past year to give you an idea of its impact.

Connecting Evacuees After Hurricane Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of thousands of people struggled to find missing loved ones and receive news about their homes and communities. The slow and disorganized response from the federal government meant that information was difficult to come by. To help bridge this gap, Low Power FM activists proposed installing a temporary LPFM station in the Houston Astrodome to benefit the 20,000 evacuees who had been relocated there. When organizers hit resistance from local officials who did not trust an outside, independent radio broadcaster, they contacted MAP and asked for help. MAP moved quickly, contacting the FCC, members of Congress, and its extensive list of contacts to pressure local officials to allow the LPFM station to operate. Ultimately, MAP helped LPFM activists secure a license to operate in the Astrodome parking lot and distribute thousands of portable radios to evacuees in and around the Astrodome.

Helping Local Governments and Communities Get Access
Even as technology advances, many are still left behind. Impoverished, minority and rural communities are the last in line when it comes to receiving the benefits of electronic media. In response, an ever growing number of these communities and local governments are using "unlicensed" spectrum technologies, such as wifi, to bring broadband to places that the cable and telephone companies refuse to serve. Working at the FCC to open more spectrum for these uses and blocking efforts to preempt local governments from providing community networks, MAP has been the principle defender for community wireless. This past year, MAP helped stymie the efforts of telephone and cable lobbyists in more than a dozen states by defending local governments' right to provide access to their residents. As a testament to the importance of community wireless, this month the mayor of New Orleans announced that the city will be the first to deploy a municipally owned wifi system, free to everyone. This technology will offer private and public sectors critical access as they begin to rebuild. For the people of New Orleans, this technology has become vital to their stability and the city's survival. MAP will continue its tireless efforts to bring this resource to more under-served communities across the country.

Holding Broadcasters Accountable
When broadcasters ignore their obligation to cover local, state, and even federal races, citizens do not receive the information they need to choose their leaders. Broadcasters must be held responsible for providing substantive election coverage so that citizens can make informed decisions about candidates. MAP worked with the Legal Center and local groups to prepare a study showing that none of the stations in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets covered local election races during the four weeks prior to the November 2004 election. This became the basis of an unorthodox license renewal challenge filed earlier this year. While I expect these licenses to be renewed, my hope is that it will draw attention to the impact of broadcasters' lack of coverage and their failure to uphold their public interest obligations.

I could give many more such examples. Indeed, one of my greatest challenges is describing the vast range of day-to-day assistance MAP provides to countless civil rights, civil liberties, consumer, labor and religious organizations having problems with FCC rules of one kind or another. MAP's role as Washington lawyers for the progressive community is no less important than any of MAP's big cases, as there is no other group able to do what MAP does every day.

In addition to our programmatic accomplishments, we were also able to expand as an organization. I am pleased to introduce two important new people at MAP. Parul Desai joined MAP as Assistant Director in the beginning of October. Her background in intellectual property as well as communications law gives MAP increased capacity to deal with new challenges. And former Federal Trade Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson has joined MAP's board. His leadership experience in the private and public sectors is a welcome addition.

Next year is an important one for media reform. Congress will be revisiting the 1996 Telecommunications Act, with enormous pressure from well-represented telecom corporations to further deregulate the industry. MAP has the credibility, the access, and the talent to take on these industry giants, but it needs your help. MAP continues to rely primarily on foundations for its principal means of support. However, it has increasingly looked towards individuals and smaller gifts as more people realize the importance of media reform.

For a small organization, every dollar makes a big difference; few organizations provide more bang for the buck than MAP. Your support will allow us to continue to represent communities and organizations who lack the legal expertise to fight for themselves. You can send your secure, tax-deductible donation directly from our website by clicking here. I deeply appreciate your continued commitment and hope you can donate to MAP's upcoming efforts.

Sincerely,

Andrew Jay Schwartzman
President and CEO

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