Honorable Carlos M. Gutierrez
Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
14th & Constitution Ave. NW, Room 5516
Washington, DC 20230

Dear Secretary Gutierrez:

We are writing to inquire whether the National Telecommunications and Information Agency plans to conduct another study on minority broadcast ownership.

In the next few months, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to begin a rulemaking procedure to determine regulations governing our nation’s broadcast ownership rules.

We are concerned that any action to further deregulate our nation’s broadcast ownership regulations will reduce the number of minority owners.

The NTIA has conducted several valuable studies on minority broadcast ownership in the past. The last report the agency released was in December 2000.

That report, Changes, Challenges, and Charting New Courses: Minority Commercial Broadcast Ownership in the United States, found that people of color made up only 3.8 percent of all broadcast station owners. In contrast, people of color currently make up 35 percent of the U.S. population. That figure is excepted to increase to 50 percent by 2050.

In addition, the report found that media consolidation posed a serious threat to the future of minority ownership.

NAHJ is concerned that the information from the 2000 study is now outdated and that the percentage of minority owners has since declined.

We urge the NTIA to conduct a new study on the state of minority ownership because it is critical for the public to understand the impact of regulatory action on minority owners.

NAHJ is a membership association of more than 2,000 journalists working in our nation’s English and Spanish-language newsrooms.

Founded in 1984, the mission of the association is to increase the number of Latino journalists working in our nation’s newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the Latino community.

Sincerely,

Veronica Villafañe
NAHJ President

CC:
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)
Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.)
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Calif.)
Rep. John Barton (R-Texas)
Rep. John Dingell (R-Mich.)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
FCC Chair Kevin J. Martin
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
FCC Commissioner Jonathon Adelstein