Archive for March, 2007
Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 by Jen Howard
A recent Broadcasting & Cable article asks: “Does anyone still care about media-ownership rules?”
Let’s assume that it’s a given that the members of the StopBigMedia.com Coalition and the thousands of people across the country who rearranged their lives to testify against consolidation at media ownership hearings “still care.”
Well they shouldn’t — or so says Big Media shill Shaun Sheehan — because media ownership rules are “an issue whose time has come and gone.” No use “running all around the country screaming about concentration” when “technology has changed the equation.”
In fact, according to Disney’s lobbyist Susan Fox, given the “attractiveness of new media,” in just a few years the FCC might have to offer incentives just to hold on to any broadcast station owners at all.
And let’s not forget that “CBS has shed stations, Clear Channel has begun divesting itself of all its TV and a third of its radio stations, and Tribune Co. has put its broadcasting division on the block.”
So there is no reason to “still care” about media ownership rules anymore, right?
Wrong (of course).
The Internet does not replace local news
Research by Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Free Press shows that the vast majority of the American public still rely on local media for news and information about their community.
The Internet is at best a supplement. Even those who regularly use the Internet overwhelmingly go to Big Media Web sites, and those of local TV stations and daily newspapers.
So with so many people still relying on traditional media, the argument that “technology has changed the equation” seems a little premature.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps says it best:
“When more than 80 percent of Americans say local TV, radio or print is their most important source of news and information, I believe the fight against consolidation in the traditional media is a grassroots fight worth having.”
Whether it’s online or over-the-air, the bottom line is that the majority of our news and information is still dominated by a few corporations.
Traditional media are highly profitable
The argument that the “attractiveness of new media” means that broadcasters will need some sort of “incentive” (read: relaxed ownership rules) to remain in the business is laughable — especially when you consider how profitable stations really are:
- Newspapers have average profit margins of 20 percent and sell at an average 10-12 times cash flow.
- TV stations have average profit margins of 30 percent – 50 percent and sell at and average 13-16 times cash flow.
Consolidation is bad for business
Newspapers and broadcast stations are profitable — but depend on quality journalism to remain so.
Big Media corporations that have destroyed the value of their “product” by trying to milk profits through staff cuts and infotainment are in trouble. But many smaller chains and independent outlets are thriving.
Recent sell-offs suggest that the Big Media companies may realize they can’t make consolidation work — not that media ownership rules don’t matter or shouldn’t exist.
In the end, the industry spin that mouthpieces like Sheehan are paid to spew collapses like a house of cards in the face of solid research.
New media work doesn’t eliminate the need to “still care” about media ownership rules. As Craig Aaron of Free Press aptly notes at the end of the article:
“We still have to protect local voices and encourage new ones.”
1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 by Jen Howard
Giving more than 2 weeks notice this time, the Federal Communications Commission has announced that on April 30, Tampa will be the location of the next official hearing on media ownership.
This is the fourth official hearing — attended by all five FCC commissioners — since the FCC launched its rule-making procedure that could change local ownership limits.
For decades, local communities across the country have been shut out of the decisions made by the FCC about the public airwaves. This is an important opportunity for residents of Florida to meet face-to-face with the FCC to tell them how their local communities are — or aren’t — being served by their media.
Stay tuned to StopBigMedia for more updates.
2 Comments »
Monday, March 12th, 2007 by Jen Howard
Speaking at this year’s American Women in Radio and Television Leadership Summit, S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, gave the audience a look at his ongoing research on female and minority media ownership, first published in last fall’s groundbreaking Out of the Picture study.
With all five FCC Commissioners recently commenting on the need to increase the disgracefully low number of female and minority media owners, Turner’s study provides evidence of the devastating impact of consolidation on diverse owners.
Some key new findings include:
- Women and minorities are more likely to be local owners: 50 percent of their TV stations are locally owned and operated, compared to about 20 percent of all white-male or corporate-owned stations.
- Female and minority-owned stations are more likely to be independent: 22 percent of TV stations owned by women and 35 percent of minority-owned TV stations are independent affiliates, versus just 10 percent of white-male and corporate-owned stations.
- Female and minority-owned independent stations air more local news: Only 16 percent of white-male-owned independent stations air local news versus 30 percent of the remaining independent stations.
- Female-owned stations are more likely to employ female news directors: 40 percent of the female-owned TV stations had a female news director versus just 25 percent at the other stations.
Turner’s research shows the positive impact of increasing media ownership diversity. But pro-consolidation policies continue to drive out women and minority owners and raise insurmountable barriers that shut out prospective women and minority buyers.
The bottom line:
“The goals of increasing women and minority ownership and the goals of increasing media consolidation are diametrically opposed. You just can’t do both.”
Click here to read Turner’s speech
2 Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2007 by Tim Karr
Nearly 400 people packed into the Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday night to testify for more than four hours about the threat of sweeping changes to the nation’s media ownership rules.
“I’m ready to play offense,” said Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps. “So let’s talk this evening about more than just preventing bad new rules, but about revisiting the bad old rules that got us into this mess in the first place. Let’s talk about actually bringing back positive public interest obligations to our broadcast media.”
 Commissioner Copps |
Commissioner Copps, along with Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell, listened to the testimony of more than 100 residents who traveled from all over Ohio speak out about the negative impact of further media consolidation.
“I am here on behalf of the men and women who care deeply about their profession — in part because they care about our democracy,” said panelist Connie Schultz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. “I mourn the changes in the media industry, but I am hopeful for the first time because hearings like this are happening all across the country. You, the FCC, have a chance to make it right, and we need you to make it right in Ohio.”
The FCC is currently reviewing longstanding media ownership rules, including the limits on the number of television and radio stations a company can own in one area and the prohibition on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership – which prevents companies from owning a television or radio station and the major daily newspaper in most markets.
“I am concerned that only a few companies own most of the media,” said 13-year-old Lucy Powell, resident of Athens, Ohio. “This is my future and I need to hear different viewpoints to know what is going on. Thank you for thinking about me and the rest of my generation as you make decisions on this important issue.”
“When large companies take over local newspapers and radio and television stations, they strip the local news staff and package recycled news programming to the community, making the kind of reporting I witnessed in my early days as a social worker shallow at best and non-existent at worst,” said Alvin Hadley, executive director of the Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council.
The Columbus event was sponsored by Free Press, Consumers Union, Common Cause Ohio, United Church of Christ Office of Communications, Inc., Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council, Ohio PIRG, Ohio Citizen Action, OK-Alliance, the Ohio/Kentucky Chapter of the Alliance for Community Media, Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association, and Media Bridges.
“As the message we receive becomes increasingly controlled by fewer and fewer sources, we lose the rich diversity that surrounds us,” said Rev. Robert Chase, director of communication at the United Church of Christ. “We call upon the FCC to exercise its congressionally mandated authority and set policies based not on economic efficiencies, but on the public interest, and restore the airwaves to the people.”
The Town Meeting on the Future of Media in Columbus was the first community-organized forum attended by commissioners from both sides of the aisle.
“The debate over media ownership concerns the vitality of American democracy,” said Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell. “This is my first foray into the media ownership debate. I am approaching the issue with an open mind and I am eager to hear from the public on the impact of media policy decisions.”
“Decisions about local media should not be made in New York, Los Angeles, or even Washington, D.C.,” said Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. “They should be made right here in Columbus, Ohio. If we are to craft media ownership rules that best serve the public interest, we must hear from the public.”
For more information on the Town Meeting on the Future of Media, please visit: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=columbus
3 Comments »
