When I take my last journey to the huffingtonpost.com web site in the sky, I would like to be remembered for some of the dreadful metaphors that I use from time to time, and here is one of them that is particularly silly.
Now that our system of incarceration is working so well, why not remove all of the guards from the prison system itself, and advise the felons that they should behave themselves and just leave the prison when their sentence is over.
Of course I understand what I just wrote is foolish. The Republican FCC is trying to tell us that the media giants have little power with all of the other delivery systems, so why not allow them to own newspapers in the markets that they serve with television.
This "smart ass" deviation on my part from reasonable discourse is motivated by the following quote sent to me by a dear right wing Canadian friend.
"Americans have never had more news and entertainment options. If federal media ownership regulations are to encourage such dynamism rather than inhibit it, they need to be updated."
Updated? Now what exactly does that mean?
The regulators should be totally dedicated to doing what is good for America, and not what is good for the regulated.
As far as the "regulated" are concerned, I would direct the FCC to
one of my favorite quotes from "Taylor's Laws of Business and Life."
What is the use of having power if you don't abuse it? The people with power only want MORE of it.
In the beginning of Television, the FCC established certain ownership restriction for Radio, Television, and Newspapers. Now for reasons that EVERYONE knows, the FCC now sees fit to eliminate many of them. They are trying to remove cross ownership rules.
I have all sorts of reasons for opposing this, and I will not repeat any of them here.
I know a lawyer who is "my first libertarian" friend, and as the dictionary says he would define that as"...One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state. I know that he would favor the government remove itself from regulating the media.
Of course, that is a noble notion, but after 70 odd years of regulations concerning cross ownership (as well as a lot of other stuff,) who will stop the existent media giants from eating "segments" of newspapers, radio, cable, and television companies or of course "eating" each other?
Similarly, any mention of the Anti Trust Division of the Justice Department will cause me to either laugh or cry. Always remember, a conservative Justice Department has never seen a merger of any kind and didn't think it to be efficient.
Keep the prisons guarded, and guard the freedom of the press with one of the few protections that it still has. CROSS OWNERSHIP.
I wonder what FCC Chairman Martin would say if the cross ownership rule was rescinded, and he discovered that News Corp had purchased all of the following newspapers?
Rank
Newspaper
1.USA Today (Arlington, Va.)2,528,437
2.Wall Street Journal (New York, N.Y.)2,058,342
3.Times (New York, N.Y. )1,683,855
4.Times (Los Angeles) 1,231,318
5.Post (Washington, DC) 960,684
6.Tribune (Chicago) 957,212
7.Daily News (New York, N.Y.)795,153
8.Inquirer (Philadelphia) 705,965
9.Post/Rocky Mountain News (Denver)704,806
10.Chronicle (Houston) 692,557
11.Post (New York, N.Y.) 691,420
12.News/Free Press (Detroit)669,315
13.Morning News (Dallas) 649,709
14.Star Tribune (Minneapolis)606,698
15.Globe (Boston) 604,068
16.Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)599,628
17.Journal-Constitution (Atlanta)561,405
18.Arizona Republic (Phoenix)556,465
19.Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)488,825
20.Chronicle (San Francisco)451,504
21.Plain Dealer (Cleveland)450,875
22.Times/Post-Intelligencer (Seattle)435,581
23.Post-Dispatch (St. Louis)423,291
24.Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.)422,410
25.Union-Tribune (San Diego)408,392
26.Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee)405,355
27.Sun (Baltimore) 401,918
28.Herald (Miami) 390,171
29.Oregonian (Portland) 384,729
30.Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pa.)373,980
31.Star (Kansas City, Mo.) 367,712
32.Register (Orange County, Calif.)354,632
33.Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)352,510
34.Star (Indianapolis) 347,217
35.Express-News (San Antonio, Tex.)342,709
36.Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) 341,025
37.South Florida Sun-Sentinel 339,728
38.Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)330,993
39.Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Tex.)322,824
40.Tribune & Times (Tampa, Fla.)309,916
41.Enquirer/Post (Cincinnati)293,151
42.Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)287,505
43.Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Ark.)275,991
44.Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)274,125
45.News (Buffalo, N.Y.) 273,177
46.Courant (Hartford, Conn.)272,918
47.Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)271,920
48.Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)263,373
49.Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)251,565
50.Register (Des Moines, Iowa)240,912
51.Tennessean (Nashville)236,563
52.World-Herald (Omaha, Neb.)231,115
53.Herald (Boston) 230,344
54.American-Statesman (Austin, Tex.)228,619
55.Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)225,730
56.Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)222,392
57.Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.)219,660
58.Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.)219,595
59.Review-Journal (Las Vegas)219,228
60.Journal (Providence, R.I.)218,388
61.Commercial Appeal (Memphis)216,705
62News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)213,878
63.Post (W. Palm Beach, Fla.)211,697
64.Investors Business Daily (Los Angeles)210,708
65.Record (Hackensack, N.J.)206,086
66.Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.)199,723
67.Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)190,613
68.Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.)189,000
69.Daily News (Los Angeles)187,740
70.Bee (Fresno, Calif.) 183,744
71.Press (Grand Rapids, Mich.)182,810
72.News (Birmingham, Ala.)180,451
73.Daily Star (Tucson, Ariz.)173,064
74.Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)170,870
75.Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)168,645
76.Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.)168,393
77.Blade (Toledo, Ohio) 167,686
78.Advertiser (Honolulu) 160,723
79.Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)158,013
80.Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.)153,291
81.News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.)152,945
82.Tribune/Deseret News (Salt Lake City)151,422
83.Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)150,936
84.Journal (Albuquerque) 149,455
85.Wisconsin State Journal/Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)148,489
86.Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.)148,301
87.Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.)144,231
88.Eagle (Wichita, Kans.) 143,948
89.Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)141,019
90.State (Columbia, S.C.) 140,362
91.Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Fla.)138,675
92.News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)137,730
93.News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)134,865
94.Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)133,787
95.La Opinion (Los Angeles)128,553
96.Republican (Springfield, Mass.)125,864
97.News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Fla.)125,754
98.Daily News (Philadelphia)123,483
99.Journal Gazette/News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)121,475
100.Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)120,632
Not possible you say,
Why the hell not?
I mostly advocate maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state. The "state" in this instance can not, nor can the prison guards, just walk away from the residue of years of marketplace control because they think it is time to do so, or are pressured by the media guys (or prisoners) that they purportedly regulate.
Norman Horowitz
Former Leftist