I thought that the bill allowed individuals to contribute towards advertisements, and only limited corporations, and unions, and large individual donations (<= $10K per candidate, <= $30K per year). Thus, the impact of your individual donation, as a percentage of the total political advertising "budget", would go up. Your money would have more of an impact on the total message being sent out; your message wouldn't be flooded out by the millions spent by the 'big guys'.
I don't think it empowers the media any more than they are now. I know a lot of my conservative friends complain about the 'liberal media'; I think it depends on your perspective. I thought the media I watched during the election fiasco (CNBC, especially Chris Matthews, and almost all the people on FOX) were biased towards the right. If half the country is conservative, then by supporting pro-right FOX, they have a chance to change this perceived bias. The media is notorious for 'giving the people what they want'; i.e. what sells.
Hopefully, the result of the bill will be fewer ads, and more content from 'concerned citizens' such as yourself. I'm not quite sure it will work, but let's give it a go. |
