The federal government this week backed down from pushing new FCC regulations that would loosen restrictions on cross-ownership in media markets. After the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided last June that the Federal Communication Commission's new rules allowing companies to own a television station and newspaper in the same area were unacceptable, the Bush administration declined to appeal the decision. Andrew Schwartzman is President and CEO of the Media Access Project, which led the lawsuit against the FCC.

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Media giants Tribune Company, Viacom (owner of CBS), News Corp (owner of Fox) and General Electric (owner of NBC) have announced they will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Although Schwartzman thinks the high court will not take up the case, that doesn't mean the federal government isn't supporting it, says Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media studies at New York University.

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The movement that turned the tide on corporate media moguls is relatively young, but already making serious gains. Inja Coates was an original organizer of the ever-expanding media justice movement, and one of the only women of color to be involved in the early organizing against increased corporatization of the media.

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For Amanda Huron, a community radio activist in the Mt Pleasant neighborhood of Washington DC, it's not just about fighting media monopolies, but also about fostering community empowerment.

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Huron is on the board of the Prometheus Radio Project, the lead plaintiff in the suit that stopped the FCC rule change. Prometheus has been heading the charge to promote community radio. Members of the project traverse the country, speaking on media issues, and helping new radio stations begin broadcasting, under the "Low Power FM" rubric created by the FCC five years ago.

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With the fifth year anniversary of Low Power FM, the FCC is reviewing the concept, and community radio activists, from anarchists to fundamentalist christians, are travelling to DC to voice their support for the program.

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Despite the success of the media democracy movement, Inja Coates, executive director of MediaTank, is critical of some current organizing strategies.

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Third World Majority is a women of color media justice organizing project in Oakland. Thenmozhi Soundararajan is the executive director.

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Amanda Huron in DC says that National Public Radio is not the kind of community based media she wants to see, though she says it has its place.

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For Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Third World Majority, the product is not of the highest import, she says, but process is equally important. Her organization is one of many across the country actively training people from their own communities to produce media.

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Corporate media has the biggest stake in stopping community media efforts, says Amanda Huron.

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From Clay West Virginia, to Oroville California, to Apelousas Louisiana, to Spokane Washington, Low Power FM stations bring community media to people across the country. Again, Huron.

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Supporters of the new stations and many others will descend on DC February 7th and 8th to voice their support for the Low Power FM initiative, and many will likely say the program should be expanded, says Amanda Huron.

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In Washington DC, I'm Darby Hickey of the DC Radio Coop.