Changes in Media Consolidation Means Increased Ownership by Fewer Parties
I have always wondered what my city’s CW affiliate would look like if it had a news component. I am sure it would be filled with earnest discussions of politics, social issues and foreign affairs that would only be found in the cloisters of academics and intellectuals. In all honesty, I know that CW 18 in Milwaukee would have an hour long news cast between re-runs of Scrubs and Frasier that would make the morning zoo crew look like a Congressional committee. I may be able to find out what CW News at 10 will look like due to the Federal Communication Commission’s recent move toward increased cross-ownership.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has spearheaded a move to make the filters against media conglomeration nothing more than a failing symbol of American media integrity. Martin released new rules dictating exceptions to media mergers with a press release on November 13th. These rules would make presumptions to planned mergers more likely to succeed based on a looser interpretation of public interest. Most reports on Martin’s press release and the recent vote by the FCC have said that a limited number of markets would be affected based on these rules. Concerned media watchers like the Consumer Federation of America’s Mark Cooper feel that most markets will be influenced negatively by these rules.
I hope that my CW station does not have a local news component. I also hope that Journal Communications which runs the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel does not grow in its involvement in local media. The consolidation of media is dangerous because competition is vital in weeding out bad information. If a few companies own a majority of the media outlets, they can dictate the news that people rely on in their daily lives. I hate to be cynical about a hypothetical situation but I loath supporting media conglomeration by business owners with a political interest.
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