Iron-Fisted Monopolists Clobbering Opposition

 FCC to LET MEDIA BOSSES RULE YOUR AIRWAVES

 

It looks like we have to do it again and stop the media manipulators from taking monopolistic control of the public airwaves.

 

By James P. Tucker Jr.

 

The Federal Communications Commission blinked in the face of public outrage (AFP, Feb. 3, 2003) but plans a new attempt to cement the media monopoly this spring.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell told reporters March 4 that although he expects much op position, he hopes to relax restrictions on media monopolies by late May or early June. This will pave the way for multinational corporations to continue buying up the last vestiges of independent newspapers around the United States.

“I perfectly expect that in an item of this magnitude and controversy, there will be hard-won results,” Powell said. “I think the media environment will have to be partially liberalized if you include all the factors you have to look at.”

Meanwhile, still another study shows that relaxing regulations that prohibit giant media companies from buying up too many local broadcast outlets and dominating the marketplace would result in poorer news coverage.

A newly released five-year study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that television stations owned by smaller companies produced higher-quality newscasts than those owned by media moguls “by a large margin.”

Fourteen local TV reporters and producers throughout the country examined 23,806 news stories from 172 stations, evaluating content, community interest, and whether stories showed “enterprise and courage” or were “fair, balanced and accurate,” among other things.

Their opinions, in turn, were sorted through by academics and compared with Nielsen ratings. The entire report can be found on the group’s web site (www.journalism.org).

“The data raises serious questions about regulatory changes that lead to the concentration of vast numbers of TV stations into the hands of a very few large corporations,” the study said, echoing other studies reported in AFP.

“The findings strongly suggest that this ownership structure, though it may prove the most profitable model, is likely to lead to further erosion in the content and public interest value of the local TV news Americans receive,” it said.

The study examined 61 station owners in five categories based on size, location and other factors. They included owners with three or fewer stations, those with TV stations and newspapers in the same region, independent network affiliates, publicly traded companies and conglomerates with dozens of properties.

Data revealed that small stations did better jobs on the heavily watched 11 p.m. Eastern newscasts.

“Smaller owners were 20 times more likely [than] large owners” to receive an A grade from their evaluators on their late-night news, a fact that confounded researchers.

“Larger companies are capable of producing high-quality newscasts,” it said. “Yet, for some reason, they often fail to do that when most are watching.”

The study answered its own question about the reason for low quality from big companies: profits. Big owners can pressure their stations to tone down controversial reports or produce weak, one-size-fits-all stories that could be used around the country.

Smaller stations also received higher grades for their substance. They offered longer stories, included reporters rather than video footage alone and offered a wider range of sources for their material.