Media Giants Eager to Change Law to Silence Dissent

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NewsMax.com

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001

The liberal media establishment is eager to tighten its control of the news by changing federal law so it can slurp up the competition in newspapers, TV and the Internet.

Major corporations such as Gannett, the New York Times, Tribune and Hearst-Argyle are salivating at the prospect of removing the ban on same-market newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, Broadcasting & Cable reports in this week’s issue.

"When FCC Chairman Michael Powell took over, conventional wisdom said the deregulatory Republican majority would either eliminate or greatly relax the rules. But given the Democratic takeover of the Senate, that outcome is not guaranteed,” the magazine says.

A federal appeals court in Washington has already tossed out FCC restrictions on cable ownership, and similar legal battles are under way.

Public advocates say consolidation threatens republican expression because it limits the number of voices that can have meaningful effect on debate.

Advertisers worry that cross ownership will give newspaper-broadcast-Internet groups the power to dictate prices.

"You can't have it both ways. If you own all of those media, I can't see how there won't be an adverse affect," said Allen Banks, North American media director for Saatchi & Saatchi and policy-committee chairman for American Association of Advertising Agencies.

According to Broadcasting & Cable:

"Though saying that the goals of diversity underlying the rule remain ‘vital as ever,’ Powell argues that the 1975 rule was justified on little more than hypothetical fears rather than real-world evidence or solidly grounded economic theory. Last week, more than a dozen companies honored his request for in-depth analyses of a proposed repeal.

"Arguing to retain the restriction was a coalition of public-advocacy groups — Media Access Project, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union among them — and more than 1,300 individuals whose input was generated by a coalition appeal for grass-roots support.”

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bush Administration
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