You credited this statement to me... but I DIDN'T SAY THAT, someone else did... > Wendy I. P.: I would say the Telecommunications > Act was passed BECAUSE the media hadn't been > doing its job for some time.
Here's what I say/said on the subject: The telecommunications act was passed because greedy media corps knew they could gobble up outlets and have near-monopolies, cut corners because there would be no more competition, and control the content of the product being produced with no regard to alternate or opposing views. Now that one corporation can own 15 radio stations and a couple tv stations plus newspapers, they don't really have to compete with anyone to provide service to the audience/readership... so they don't bother to pay anyone to cover that meeting... again I say... they cut staff to barebones because they can get away with it... This part is REALLY important to the complaint about the quality of local media and news: Before deregulation most media was owned by local people who took pride in their reputation in the communities and liked having the respect of their neighbors so had real newspeople who were dedicated to their jobs. Now most media is owned by faceless corps that often don't ever even visit the towns they serve... don't care about the towns... don't care about their reputations... and just do what they do the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way possible. I have sat in meetings with these people and heard them laugh at how funny it is that local people can't tell whether their programming is local or national, and how much money they save by not having to pay for local staff anymore! Isn't that just a hoot? There are one or two exceptions. I strongly urge you to support any local tv/radio/newspaper that actually pays a local staff to provide locally-focused information and news (even if they don't have enough people to make every meeting... applaud any media that is at least trying to cover local news). Wendy Introwitz Pareene Lyndale -----Original Message----- From: DeWayne Townsend [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 9:47 PM To: Discussion Forum Subject: Re: [Mpls] Media Blackout;Visa Card > Wendy I. P.: I would say the Telecommunications > Act was passed BECAUSE the media hadn't been > doing its job for some time. Did we not just recently have a dialog about the fact that there was no reporter at city hall? Can't do much ferreting if there is no one there to ferret. -- DeWayne Townsend 3222 39th Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55406 612-724-7010 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
