Media Juggernaut Grows

In late June, the Federal Communications Commission intends to remove the last obstacles to media concentration. This means one company can own all the radio stations, television stations, newspapers and cable systems it can gobble up.

Since the 1940s, the rules limited one company from owning TV stations that reach more than 35% of American households, prohibit a single TV network from owning a second broadcast network, limit multiple TV stations owned by one company in a market, and place other limits on media consolidation. This makes sense—the airwaves belong to the public and in order to get a license to operate on the public airwaves, the public interest in having many voices and opinions was a chief concern.

These rules have always been under attack by the corporate media. By 1996, the FCC eliminated its rules on radio ownership. Media conglomerates now own hundreds of stations around the country. One company, Clear Channel, owns more than 1,200 stations, and there are 30% fewer station owners than there were before 1996. Clear Channel owns as many as six or seven stations in a market, broadcasting generic everything. The result is less local news and local programming because the formats are programmed at headquarters.

The ecomonic result of conglomeration is the diversion of money into the coffers of out-of-town owners instead of that money staying in the local community to fulfill the FCC licensing requirement for community service.

The social result of conglomeration is the erosion of democracy. A coalition of consumer and media advocacy groups say that joint ownership of newspaper and broadcast outlets fails to meet the constitutional requirement, set out by the Supreme Court in 1945, that "the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the people."

The communications juggernaut rolls on. Presently, six companies own over 90% of the media outlets—AOL Time Warner, Disney, General Electric, News Corporation, Viacom, and Vivendi Universal. The U.S. now ranks 17th, below Costa Rica and Slovenia, on the worldwide index of press freedom established by the Reporters Without Borders.

It’s obvious that broadcasters and their national advertisers have a stake in promoting the views friendliest to them—not the views of others. You may have noticed that you cannot get an opposing or differing viewpoint on the Iraq war unless you tune into the BBC on public TV. You may remember the Fairness Doctrine, which considered the airwaves as a "public trust" and said fairness required the public trust to accurately reflect opposing views. The FCC repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 has already had an effect on political debate.

The number of TV stations, radio stations and newspapers one company controls doesn’t make the news. But it does affect everyone.

What you can do:

• Tell the FCC you don’t support media conglomeration by calling it (toll-free) at 888-225-5322; writing to the Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th St. SW, Washington, DC 20554; or visit <www.fcc.gov/ownership>.

• Bill Moyers' NOW program on PBS has links to many resources on this topic; visit <www.pbs.org/now>.

• Visit the website for the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Committee of Concerned Journalists at <www.journalism.org>.

• Columbia Journalism Review tracks the holdings of the media. "Who Owns What," CJR's web guide to what the major media companies own, can be found at <www.cjr.org/owners>.

Charlene LaVoie has been the community lawyer in Winsted since 1990. Her article about the proposed Bio-Gen energy facility was on the cover of the first issue of The Winsted Voice on April 15, 1992.