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New Poll: Media Consolidation |
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Last week we asked you, “In light of recent developments in the story of the British sailors taken hostage by Iran, would you say that the British government acted appropriately, responded too weakly, or responded too strongly?”
Overwhelmingly, 80% of you thought the British government acted appropriately during its dealings with Iran.
This week, a question on media consolidation in America brought on by Eric Klinenberg and his great book, Fighting For Air (pick it up if you get the chance):
Since the 1996 Telecommunications Act was passed, media has been consolidating at an alarming rate. Do you feel local issues are covered adequately in the media you consume?
Let’s hear your thoughts! Has media consolidation affected the way you get your news?
(By the way, stay tuned for an interview with Professor Klinenberg next month…)
It is a myth that the media is too consolidated. As indicated in this Wall Street Journal article, “A 2002 FCC survey of 10 media markets–from the largest (New York City) to the smallest (Altoona, Pa.)–showed that each had more outlets and owners in 2000 than in 1960. And the FCC counted all of a market’s cable channels as a single outlet (even though the typical viewer would regard each channel as a distinct one) and didn’t include national newspapers or Internet sites as media sources, so the diversity picture was even brighter than it seemed.”
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009954
I work with the National Association of Broadcasters and it is unfortunate that the FCC’s outdated ownership rules have tied the hands of local TV broadcasters, preventing them from experimenting with new ways to deliver local news.
@freeforall
I would say you can’t be more wrong on this one…
Tell me, has your cable and internet bills gone up or down in the last 10 years?
Do the news sources you read cover your city council meetings? Issues having to do with local schools? What about local community groups from your block or street?
Do you ever get the feeling that you are reading the same story over and over in the variety of news sources that you consume?
Do you think its fair that one corporation can control the only TV, radio, and print outlets in one town?
Do you find yourself turning to blogs and the Internet because your print, radio, and TV news sources just aren’t giving you the information you’d like to know about?
I’d say if you answer yes to any of these questions then you’d agree there is too much media consolidation.
I actually get my local news from a great source.
http://www.mckinneynews.net I don’t even live in McKinney anymore but I enjoy keeping up with the happenings. This was impossible just two years ago.
Name me a corporation that owns the only tv, radio and print outlets in a town.
Look around. Diversity is everywhere my friend. Just a couple of years ago we couldn’t even have this debate.
Two points. First, as for a corporation owning lots of outlets in one town, let’s take my town, Chicago.
- The Tribune Company owns 3 papers in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune, the Redeye, and Hoy.
- It owns two TV stations, WGN and CLTV, and one radio station, WGN-AM.
- It owns the largest Chicago cultural website, metromix.com, and the largest Chicago sport website, chicagosports.com, as well as other popular national websites like apartments.com and careerbuilder.com.
- It also owns the largest sports franchise in Chicago, the Cubs.
All this is recent development. Since the loosening of ownership controls in 1996, the Tribune Company has bought 26 TV stations, 4 education publishing companies, and 8 newspapers. Right now they own 27 TV stations, 15 newspapers, 21 magazines, and various other online and offline holdings.
By their own admission they reach 30% of ALL US households just through their TV stations alone. That’s almost 90,000,000 people!
It doesn’t strike you as threatening when one company can reach almost a third of US households with one message? That doesn’t strike you as anti-competitive or monopolizing?
I agree that the Internet has broadened our news sources somewhat, but the fact remains that most people still get their news from traditional sources (even if they are online) and those that need independent local press the most, the poor and underprivileged, are the least likely to have reliable Internet access or the computer savvy to find the media they need.