Wednesday May 28, 2003 at 11:20 PM
Why Does the FCC Want Fewer Media Companies?
Appearing in Politics
In the next few days the FCC intends to pass a new set of regulations that will greatly relax the current limitations on broadcast ownership (see Wired for more). As things stand, any given company is prevented from owning more than a certain number of radio or TV stations and no company can own a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market. These regulations have been in place for decades and have helped to stem the trend towards concentration of media ownership.
As of today, 90% of the media outlets in this country are controlled by just 10 companies (source). In other words, the vast majority of everything you see, hear, or read originates from only ten corporations. Such concentration is poisonous to a healthy democracy (see Salon for more) and is likely to get worse since the 3 to 2 Republican majority that makes up the FCC intends to relax these rules despite the public protests.
To understand the danger, consider the notion of the media as a fourth branch of government: a non-Constitutional check and balance on the State. When there are fewer media companies it not only means an obvious decline in the diversity of reporting and opinion, it also means there are fewer organizations with which the government has to contend. The Iraq war provided a cautionary example. Instead of having to contend with thousands of reporters from hundreds of media organizations, all operating independent of the military such as in Vietnam, Korea, or World War II, this time around the government only had to contend with hundreds of reporters from dozens of organizations, almost all of them “embedded” with the military. As a result, the American citizenry only saw and heard what the government intended them to see and hear. Put simply, with less media to control, it will be easier to control the media.
Do you believe a relaxing of these regulations is in the public’s best interest? Post a public comment at the FCC’s website.
