SubscribeFCC plays media monopoly
If the Federal Communications Commission has its way, Denver and other top-20 markets could see a single owner of local newspaper, television, radio and even internet services in the future. The relaxation of cross-ownership rules currently under consideration by the regulatory agency has been derided by watchdog groups as a big gift from the FCC to Rupert Murdoch. After a quick, closed-door decision was scuttled, a vote has been pushed to 2013.
Currently, the bulk of the media is owned by six companies — CBS, News Corp., Comcast, Disney, Time Warner, Viacom. See a chart from Free Press. Murdoch is angling to buy the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, the biggest newspapers in the country’s second and third largest markets. The media baron already owns TV stations in both cities. Only the FCC’s 1970s-era rules against media cross-ownership stand in his way. And the FCC is talking about dropping those rules.
The FCC’s argument is that the internet makes the old ownership rules obsolete. But as former FCC Chairman Michael Copps has said, the internet is great for bubbling up emotion and political action in instances like the Arab Spring. But the internet is not good at sustained investigative reporting. Strong local journalism is important for a working democracy.
The FCC’s move is opposed by civil rights and public interest groups, who say the Commission is too concerned with protecting corporations, when it should focus on protecting citizens and furthering diversity of media ownership. This editorial by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Copps, “FCC Rule Change Would Favor Big Media,” sums it up.
