Big Media Myopia at the FCC

Too often in the give-and-take of media policymaking, it's government officials that are giving, corporate giants that are taking, and the public that's left with nothing in the exchange.

This is certainly the case at the Federal Communications Commission, where Republican Chairman Kevin Martin is trying to brush aside mounds of evidence and ignore vast public opposition to hand a sweetheart deal to media owners with whom he seems to share a common agenda.

Martin's Junk Media Dream

The decision in question -- allowing one company to own broadcast station and a major daily newspaper in the same market -- is so unpopular and wrong-headed that one wonders what really motivates Martin to defy common sense and the democratic process.

Despite intense pressure to stop his headlong rush for more consolidation, Martin has called for a vote next week the ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership" and let a few companies swallow up more local media in hundreds of cities and towns.

His rule change is likely to pass with the support of the other two Republican commissioners, Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell, sources told Reuters today.

Giving 'Short Shrift'

As FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has said, Martin's plan gives "short shrift" to pressing problems such as the sorry state of female and minority media ownership of U.S. media and the decline of quality local news coverage on TV and radio.

When the idea of more media consolidation was put before Americans -- during a series of public hearings and requests for public comment -- more than 99 percent said bigger media were bad for them, bad for their communities and bad for our democracy.

Can you remember the last time 99 percent of Americans agreed on anything?

When the FCC asked for evidence of the impact of consolidation on localism, diversity and competition in media, Free Press and its allies responded with a comprehensive series of reports that found Martin's consolidation plan amounted to little more than corporate welfare for Big Media.

Lifting the cross-ownership ban would unleash a buying spree in the local media markets, making it easier for companies like Gannett Co., News Corp. and Tribune Co. to push out independent, local owners.

Moreover, Free Press used the FCC's own data to show how such local consolidation would result in less local news, less minority control of local news outlets, and less diversity of perspectives and opinion in local media.

The Public Takes Notice

Chairman Martin has never disputed -- or even acknowledged -- this research; he would rather it be swept under the rug in hopes that the rest of us wouldn't notice.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Faces off Against the Public

Fortunately, many have noticed.

Right now thousands of people over at StopBigMedia.com are building a virtual "wall" of opposition. Martin, who has spent plenty of time staring across his desk at industry lobbyists, should check out the faces of his real constituents.

Martin's proposal also triggered criticism from the Hill. Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.), the powerful head of the House Commerce Committee, last week wrote Martin informing him that the House was launching an investigation into the way the FCC was operating.

And bipartisan legislation, now winding through the Senate, would impose a six-month delay on the Martin's plans to gut ownership limits and mandate that the agency deal with the crisis in minority media ownership before changing any rules.

Big Media's Drive-Thru

In the face of all of this, why is Martin still determined to push through his rule change?

The chairman himself wrote recently in a New York Times op-ed that he's changing the rules to save journalism -- that newspapers and television stations need to join up financially in order to survive editorially. (Never mind the legions of newsroom layoffs that have resulted from similarly merged "economies of scale.")

That Martin is willing to employ blatant illogic to save us from ourselves shows what passes for public service in an agency that's little more than a drive-thru for corporate giveaways.

That people are rising up in numbers to oppose him is a hopeful sign that "business as usual" at the FCC is destined for bankruptcy.

Follow Timothy Karr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TimKarr

Comments

[Kungfublood]

"one wonders what really motivates Martin to defy common sense and the democratic process."
He would not be the first one to abandon common sense for common dollars.

[glitzqueen]

"Myopia at the FCC" is far too gracious a way to put it. "Collusion" would be the suitable word. Martin and the other two Republican members are corporatists through and through, and allowing giant corporations to spin even more news in their own interest serves the entire right-wing agenda. They want the American public dumb and deceived, never mind that the airwaves belong to US and are supposed to serve us.

Obviously, we need LESS media conglomeration in this country, not more of it -- and let's not forget that this monster was unleashed under Bill Clinton. With Rupert Murdoch as Hillary's new best friend, we'd be crazy to expect any helpful changes from her.

[ProfessorDuh]

You people and sixty-two million other Ameicans are listening to me right now. Because less than three percent of you people read books. Because less than fifteen percent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers. This tube is the most awesome, god-damned force in the whole godless world. And woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people...
— Howard Beale, 1976

[oogabooga]

Hey but they promise us we'll have MORE choice with the consolidation. Look at Sirius and XM. They are promising the moon to get the quick merger okay from the Bush regime before the Dems take over. Then watch your subscription double or triple! No competition left folks. And without competition, capitalism becomes corporate fascism and the consumer pays, of course. That's why we have antitrust laws that unfortunately are no longer being enforced.

[Vajara]

I understand that there are 5 members of the FCC who rule on all of the policies of this corporate body. The majority party gets 3 votes and the minority 2. So where are our D's who should be changing the direction of our communications. They might even start by not allowing all of these drug commercials by the Big Pharmas and stop the marketing of them. The pharmas are just a bunch of drug merchants and dealers out to get our children and others hooked. Their solution is to have a pill for everything that doesn't produce happiness and immediate relief from discomfort--eg. nervous leg, headache, sex pills, stress, anxiety, depression, paing, weight--you name the symptom and they will offer the solution with a pill. Our society is not only a giant corporate take over, but one huge drug store to serve everyone who has discomfort of any kind. The FCC is behind everyone becoming to one pill or another. Who will stop this madness?

Come on, let's get rid of the Big Pharmas from advertising now. Come on you "D's" find your courage and stop supporting, enabling, and addicting everyone here and everywhere on the planet. One final note: How do you sleep at night? Need a pill to cover your consciousness?

[srmorris]

The fourth estate is definitely under attack in this country, with competition falling to economies of scale. Fortunately, many of those economies of scale don't apply to the internet and that is increasingly where people get their news. As long as we can protect net neutrality we have a weapon against the lies of big media.