Citizens will have the opportunity to speak directly to the Federal Communications Commission when Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein hold a public forum on media concentration Thursday in St. Paul.

The forum will run from 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, in Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University.

The hearing will be organized into two panels ? ?Local News and Information,? and ?Media Diversity.? After the panels, there will be an opportunity for members of the general public to make comments.

Panelists will include:

Colleen Aho, Executive Director, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Twin Cities Local;
Ken Goldstein, Professor, University of Wisconsin;
Robert W. Hubbard, Vice President, Hubbard Broadcasting and President, Hubbard Television;
Bob Bundgaard, President, KLKS-FM, Breezy Point, Minn.;
Al Christopherson, President, Minnesota Farm Bureau;
Nicholas Johnson, Professor, University of Iowa College of Law, and former Commissioner, FCC;
Janis Lane-Ewart, Executive Director, KFAI;
Lorena Duarte, Editor, La Prensa de Minnesota;
and Sarah Nelson, Assistant News Director, KUOM, Univ. of Minnesota.

Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer will moderate the panels.

The purpose of the hearing is to give citizens outside of Washington, D.C., an opportunity to voice their opinions about media consolidation and to offer comments on how the agency can develop protections that provide citizens with viewpoints from a diversity of sources and enhance the marketplace of ideas.

The forum is particularly timely in light of increasing concern about the growth of media corporations and the loss of independent media outlets, as well as the possiblity that Congress will consider a new telecommunications bill in the next session.

The forum is open to the public and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. All interested persons are invited to attend.