,,iii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #cjf  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,september
 #aj1 #bjai,ms4 ,rosen 7for herself and 
,mr4 ,rubio7 submitted the following    
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and  
,transportation  ,,resolution           
,reaffirming the commitment to media    
diversity and pledging to work with     
media entities and diverse stakeholders 
to develop common ground solutions to   
eliminate barriers to media diversity4  
,whereas the principle that an informed 
and engaged electorate is critical to a 
vibrant democracy is deeply rooted in   
our laws of free speech and underpins   
the virtues on which we established our 
,constitution1 in ,order to form a more 
perfect ,union1 establish ,justice1     
insure domestic ,tranquility1 provide   
for the common defence1 promote the     
general ,welfare1 and secure the        
,blessings of ,liberty to ourselves and 
our ,posterity ''' 42 ,whereas having   

independent1 diverse1 and local media   
that provide exposure to a broad range  
of viewpoints and the ability to        
contribute to the political debate is   
central to sustaining that informed     
engagement2 ,whereas it is in the public
 interest to encourage source1 content1 
and audience diversity on our ,nation's 
shared telecommunications and media     
platforms2 ,whereas the survival of     
small1 independent1 and diverse media   
outlets that serve diverse audiences and
 local media markets is essential to    
preserving local culture and building   
understanding on important community    
issues that impact the daily lives of   
residents2 ,whereas research by the     
,american ,society of ,news ,editors1   
the ,radio ,television ,digital ,news   
,association1 the ,pew ,research        
,center1 and others has documented the  
continued challenges of increasing      
diversity among all types of media      
entities2 ,whereas with increasing media
 experience and sophistication1 it is   

even more important to have minority    
participation in local media to ensure a
 diverse range of information sources   
are available and different ideas and   
viewpoints are expressed to strengthen  
social cohesion among different         
communities2 and ,whereas the           
constriction in small1 independent1 and 
diverse media outlets and limited       
participation of diverse populations in 
media ownership and decisionmaking are  
combining to negatively impact our goal 
of increasing local civic engagement and
 civic knowledge through increased voter
 participation1 membership in civic     
groups1 and knowledge of local political
 and civil information3 ,now1 therefore1
 be it  ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7        
reaffirms its commitment to diversity as
 a core tenet of the public interest    
standard in media policy2 and  7#b7     
pledges to work with media entities and 
diverse stakeholders to develop common  
ground solutions to eliminate barriers  
to media diversity4