Update: While I originally believed I would be addressing Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid with a question about media consolidation, I have learned that I will actually be addressing the 2008 Democratic presidential candidates. The information in this article has been changed to reflect that.

I’ve written here before on the problems of media consolidation and what they mean for this country. It comes down to access to information, a crucial component of democracy:

Media consolidation affects us all, but we might not realize it. The fact that 80% of the television market is controlled by just five companies hardly registers as more than a factoid for most Americans, but it touches their lives more than they know. Think about it: The most popular source for news and information in America is through broadcast or print media. This means that to a large extent, media companies control what Americans know about, what they talk about, and what they care about. If the media doesn’t report on a story, it won’t become part of our national discussion. A free and independent press has long been recognized as a cornerstone of democracy, yet as media companies have grown from local outlets into national conglomerates, they have begun to lose sight of the average citizen they once existed to protect.

In my interview with media scholar Eric Klinenberg, he explained how the problems of media consolidation touch issues all over the political and policy spectrum:

“Well, there are a lot of different fronts in this battle, and they keep changing. Six months ago if you had asked me that question I wouldn’t have said that one thing you have to care about is the royalty rate of Internet radio stations, but now of course you do. I wouldn’t have told you that you need to be worried about the postal rate for small independent magazine publishers, but now you do.

[snip]

There are a lot of organizations working on this, and I’d say the most important message I’d have for people who care about the state of the media and want to do something is that you shouldn’t feel hopeless, because the last 5 years, in my view, is a history of extraordinary and unpredictable successes from citizens and citizen organizations that say, “We’re tired of media policy being made by big media companies, Congressional officials, lobbyists, and FCC commissioners in the back halls of Washington DC office buildings. It’s time for us to turn media policy into public policy,” and they’re doing exactly that.”

With that in mind, where do the current 2008 Democratic presidential candidates stand on the basic media consolidation issues? If you care about media consolidation, can you trust the Democratic hopefuls to fight for this issue? Because the mainstream media has an inherent bias against reporting media consolidation issues (as they are all big media outlets themselves), you don’t see a lot of coverage in the papers or on television. Instead, you have to take a look at official campaign literature and individual statements to find out positions. Here’s what they seem to be saying.

Hillary Clinton has come out against charging for email and pledged to bridge the digital divide. She has also voted against the FCC when it tried to raise ownership caps on television and radio stations. She is also for net neutrality. Barack supports net neutrality as well, though not explicitly on his campaign website. He has tackled media consolidation and diversity in media ownership as well, bringing both front runner’s positions in line.

The other candidates, unsurprisingly, have similar positions. John Edwards is for Internet access for all Americans and Bill Richardson has supported broadband access in his home state of New Mexico. Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel are for net neutrality while Joe Biden is unfortunately against it. Dennis Kucinich perhaps goes the farthest, calling for free airtime for candidates, increased viewpoint diversity, ownership caps, low power FM radio, and public access to media. Unlike the others, he is far more specific in his plans, giving him an edge in my view.

The candidates positions are very spread out, and none of them really cover all the basic media consolidation issues in their speeches or on their websites. With the exception of Kucinich, no candidate really has a concrete plan for solving any of the issues. On top of that, with most candidates holding elected office, little has been actually done. Net neutrality legislation is still not law, the FCC did not fully endorse open access by failing to force auction winners to provide wholesale access for competing systems, and media conglomerates are getting bigger, as last week’s acquisition of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal by News Corp. clearly illustrates. I wonder where the candidates stand right now on media consolidation issues and what specifically they plan to do about it. Tomorrow, I’ll have a chance to ask them.

Tune into the Yearly Kos convention via UStream at 1 pm central time and see the candidates answer my questions about media consolidation. If we’re lucky, the debate will be broadcast on CNN, NBC, and C-SPAN as well. I hope you’re as interested in their answers as I am.

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