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Clear Channel to donate radio stations in bid to diversify media ownership

Published: Jul 23, 2009

 CSR       

Danielle Correa:  In a clear (pardon the pun) effort to enforce diverse offerings in the radio industry, Clear Channel Radio announced today that it will donate a collection of AM radio stations and equipment to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC).  The MMTC is a nonprofit that promotes equality and civil rights among the media and communications industries.

The council will join forces with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Education Foundation’s Broadcast Leadership Training Program in order to use the stations for training a new generation of minority and women owners in broadcasting.  With a constant spotlight on change/innovation, it is ironic that it decides that the answer is minorities and women. For, what could be more different!

Aman Singh Das:  But the council has been urging this case before the Federal Communications Commission for years arguing that regulators should award more station licenses for minority and women investors.  Going with the oft-repeated slogan of “diversity breeds new thought and improvement, for the broadcasting industry this is untried territory.

Danielle: These programs will provide minority and women broadcasters with the tools that they need to command their own stations and to develop skills and experience to become successful in the broadcasting industry.

Aman: What remains to be seen is if this alliance succeeds in generating a more modern approach to media and entertainment news. Long the male-dominated industry, especially when it comes to the executive suite, this is a welcome initiative.

How far it will go, that’s a bet I'm not willing to take.

Readers, what do you think?  Is the broadcasting world in need of some difference when it comes to whose running the show? Are you willing to bet this can mean a more diverse media industry?

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