Are you worried about the future of local news? Many journalists have lost their jobs; too many issues are going unreported; and too few people are holding power accountable. If we lose our watchdog press, the damages will be severe. Join our call for better media now. The FCC has begun to take a hard look at the future of media, and we need to make sure they hear from as many people as possible. This is your chance to stand up for better media by signing our mass declaration to the FCC.

Everyone agrees that to sustain a vibrant democracy, we need well-funded and secure media that serve all people and communities. The question is how to get there -- and we have a plan. Here's how you can help us get it to the FCC.

First, we need you and everyone you know to sign this declaration calling for better media now.

Then, in the coming weeks, you can:

Flood the FCC's Web site with examples of the state of journalism in your area Help us send activists to every upcoming FCC hearing File official comments with the FCC about your own vision for better media

A widely popular Islamic website has been, until very recently, an undisputed success story. IslamOnline arrived at a time that millions of Muslims needed a common platform and a unifying outlet. Here was a website that neither shunned nor alienated. Its influence was upbeat and positive, rather than destructive or divisive. While it wasn’t an apologetic outlet, it reached out to patiently and progressively present Islam and Muslim issues to the world. These were understood and communicated by hundreds of scholars and qualified journalists, who toiled day and night from their Cairo offices.

Ralph Nader's descent from being one of the most respected and powerful men in the country to being a pariah illustrates the totality of the corporate coup. Nader's marginalization was not accidental. It was orchestrated to thwart the legislation that Nader and his allies—who once consisted of many in the Democratic Party—enacted to prevent corporate abuse, fraud and control. He was targeted to be destroyed. And by the time he was shut out of the political process with the election of Ronald Reagan, the government was in the hands of corporations. Nader's fate mirrors our own.