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Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
FCC Moves to Intensify Media Consolidation
April 20, 2001
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is moving to weaken or eliminate
two of the few remaining broadcasting rules that protect some degree of
media diversity.
On April 19, the FCC voted 3-1 in favor of eliminating the "dual network"
rule, which had prevented one television network from buying another. This
rule change will immediately benefit Viacom, which will be allowed to own
CBS and part of the UPN network.
The other rule, expected to be lifted or amended in a matter of weeks, is
the "cross ownership" rule, which prohibits a company that owns a local
newspaper from owning a television station in the same market. Waivers have
been granted in the past (Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. owns New York
television station WNYW and the New York Post, for example), but watering
down or eliminating the rule altogether has long been a goal of industry
lobbyists.
This continues an intensely pro-business trend at the FCC, the government
agency responsible for managing the broadcast spectrum and regulating the
telecommunications industry. Under the impetus of the deregulatory
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC has overseen a period of intense
corporate mergers. Since the Telecom Act, the number of television station
owners in the U.S. has dropped by half (Los Angeles Times, 4/19/01), while
more than half of the 11,000 commercial radio stations have been sold
(Silicon Alley Reporter, 3/01).
The move to deregulate the media industry continued three years later, as
the FCC in August 1999 changed its rules to allow networks to own two
television stations in a given market. And last month, FCC chair Michael
Powell approved a number of radio mergers that had been marked for public
comment by previous Chairman William Kennard (Broadcasting & Cable,
3/19/01). The mergers given the green light by Powell would create local
monopolies, where one company would control 50 percent of a given market's
ad revenue, or two companies would control about 70 percent of total ad
revenue.
Powell has indicated (New York Times, 4/16/01) that the cross ownership rule
will fall as well: "I don't know why there's something inherent about a
newspaper and something inherent about a broadcaster that means they can't
be combined." Given that U.S. newspapers are overwhelmingly local
monopolies, of course, mergers between the newspaper industry and the
increasingly concentrated broadcast media would mean a dramatic reduction in
media diversity at the local level.
Guarding and protecting the public interest is supposed to be central to the
FCC's mission, but Powell has expressed some confusion about the very
concept. When asked in February what he thought the term "public interest"
meant (press conference, 2/6/01), he responsed: "I have no idea. The public
interest at its core is the same thing as my oath of office: a commitment to
making sure the American consumer is benefited.... I try to make the best
judgment I can in ways I think will benefit consumers. Beyond that I don't
know. I'm still trying to figure it out."
Powell is not always so confused about whose interests he represents:
Appearing before the House subcommittee on telecommunications (Washington
Post, 3/30/01), Powell referred to broadcast corporations as "our clients."
Powell has also mocked the concept of unequal access to technology, often
referred to as the digital divide: "I think there is a Mercedes divide," he
said (New York Times, 2/7/01). "I'd like to have one; I can't afford one."
The FCC's actions under Powell are discouraging for those who advocate for
media diversity. "Powell has been very clear about his intentions to turn
over more and more of the publicly owned broadcast spectrum to already huge
media corporations. These moves reaffirm those corporate-friendly
principles," said Jim Naureckas of FAIR. "The FCC's total lack of interest
in protecting Americans as citizens or consumers is shocking and
disgraceful."
ACTION: Please contact Michael Powell and let him know that media diversity
should be a top priority for the FCC, and that media concentration is not in
the public interest. Urge the FCC to preserve-- and refrain from weakening--
the rule prohibiting cross ownership of newspapers and television stations
in the same market.
CONTACT:
Michael Powell, FCC Chair
Federal Communications Commission
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