The Federal Communications Commission - the government agency that manages the public airwaves and sets media regulations - came under heavy fire last week at a hearing in Washington, D.C. on media consolidation and its effect on local programming. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to allow giant corporations to own even more of our local media outlets.

But the public wants something very different - and was out in force to tell him so.

Featured this week are some of the many voices of those who participated in the rally and subsequent localism hearing, which was held at FCC headquarters in Washington D.C. on October 31, 2007 and Robert W. McChesney, professor of communications at the University of Illinois and Urbana Champaign and co-founder of Free Press.

This week's Sprouts edition is produced in Northampton, Massachusetts by tevie Converse and Candace Clement. Media Minutes is an independent program dedicated to media and democracy, produced by Free Press. For more information go to www.freepress.net/mediaminutes