Well at least one FCC commissioner, Micheal Copps, doesn't have his head up his ass or his hand in big media's pocket. Read his interview at Tom Paine. This is a huge problem and absolutely crucial to the future of democracy in the US. Unfortunately Copps and Adelstein seem to be the only commissioners that gets it and two are not enough.
TomPaine.com: Commissioner Copps, you have said it is a bad idea to loosen media ownership rules because it will undermine diverse, local, competitive media. But you’ve also said you don’t think the FCC majority backing these changes is "anywhere close to understanding the potential consequences." What do you mean by that?
Michael Copps: That’s what I’ve said. We shouldn’t be changing these rules without a national dialogue and without an adequate record, and we have had neither. The record is inadequate. The record that is there, I think, doesn’t justify a great loosening of the rules of consolidation.
This issue has so many ramifications and it affects people in so many different ways. You have to have an understanding of what’s gone on in this country in the last 10 years. We’ve been through tremendous consolidation already. We don’t really have our arms wrapped around what that consolidation has meant in terms of: What’s happened to the local news? How much less employment is there in local newsrooms now, as a result of consolidation, if indeed there is -- and most people say that there is? What has been the impact of consolidation on the homogenization of music and the whole Clear Channel-ization of radio, when less of it emanates from the locality and the region and more and more of it comes out of corporate headquarters, motivated by the great desire to sell advertising?
Posted by The Dynamic Driveler at May 22, 2003 04:39 PMThe average American viewer here has become a product. He’s the product in all this. The eyeballs of the viewer are being delivered to the advertiser is what media has largely come to. And that’s rather distressing. And that’s especially distressing in a democratic system that relies upon a well-informed citizenry.
Doug, have you read Zacharias' new book on 'illiberal democracy'? I've ordered it, but from interviews on PBS and CBC it's clear this guy understands how our taking democracy for granted, and how losing track of the efforts needed to sustain a democracy, including allowing moneyed elites to steal democratic institutions like the media, can lead to the demise of democracy very quickly and irrevocably. Ironic it takes a guy who grew up in India to see the warning signs we don't seem to be able to see.
Posted by: Dave Pollard on May 22, 2003 06:52 PMNo I haven't - I'll have to add it to my wish list - unfortunately I can't afford to buy books right now (been unemployed since middle of January and no EI) :-(
Posted by: The Dynamic Driveler on May 22, 2003 07:30 PMI wish there where more people aware of the media controls that has been happening...I work in Sat. uplink and see it from ground zero..All I can do is vote...If the average person knew what was happening maybe they would vote...We're going to end up with 400 channels of Cops or American Gladiator...LCD,and I don't mean the screen...
Posted by: Anonymous on May 31, 2003 12:20 AM