New Study Exposes Shameful Lack of Radio Diversity
A new study from Free Press exposes the devastating impact of media consolidation on radio ownership diversity. Off the Dial — the first comprehensive analysis of female and minority radio ownership — found that women and people of color control just one-eighth of the country’s full-power radio stations despite comprising two-thirds of the population.
“Consolidation continues to push out female and minority owners and raise insurmountable barriers that shut out prospective buyers,” said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press and author of the study. “Any FCC policies aimed at promoting media diversity are doomed to fail if the destructive impact of consolidation is ignored.”
On a national teleconference yesterday, FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps joined national civil rights and women’s rights leaders in blasting the commission’s pro-consolidation policies for pushing out female and minority owners.
Commissioner Copps:
“This study ought to be call ‘The Shame of the Media.’ Off the Dial presents fresh and challenging evidence about the lack of female and minority ownership in the radio industry. My fervent hope is that we can harness the shame of our failures and recommit ourselves to creating a media that reflects the diversity of the American people.”
Commissioner Adelstein:
“Women and people of color have been left off the dial because the FCC has pursued policies that are far off the mark. These misguided policies have denied two-thirds of the American people an opportunity to serve the needs of their communities. The Commission needs to thoroughly study this report and develop a comprehensive strategy to remedy this injustice.”
Off the Dial found that the average local radio market has 16 white male-owned radio stations — but just one female-owned station and two-minority owned stations. Overall, the study found:
- Women own just 6 percent of all full-power radio stations, even though they comprise 51 percent of the population.
- People of color own just 7.7 percent of stations but make up 33 percent of the population.
Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.):
“I commend Free Press for compiling this thorough report on the lack of diversity in radio station ownership. The incredibly low numbers of women and under-represented minorities that own radio stations run contrary to the public interest. As the FCC re-examines media ownership rules, I urge them to pay close attention to this report and the disturbing statistics showing that we need more diversity among owners of radio and other media.”
Gloria Steinem, founder of GreenStone Media:
“In this country radio has become among the least democratic media and I’m in mourning for this. It has become bad enough so that it has got to get better — there’s nowhere else we can go. It’s become very clear that the connection between ownership and programming is direct. We need to have programmers that share the experiences of the people that they are programming for.”
Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition:
“All day, all night, all white, clearly does not represent the diversity of American culture. When people of color own just 7.7 percent of radio stations but make up 33 percent of the population, we see how poor public policy decisions continue to lock more of the ‘Rainbow’ out of opportunities.”
Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women:
“Commercial radio may be one of the most unfriendly environments for women and people of color. Media consolidation has created an almost unbreakable glass ceiling at the top. The FCC must take action to promote more diverse ownership and end the white male stranglehold on the airwaves.”
Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens:
“Latinos own less than 3 percent of U.S. radio stations but make up 15 percent of the population. These alarming statistics suggest that women and people of color have very few stations available to serve the needs of the community. LULAC urges the FCC to do better.”
Female and minority owners are more likely to be local radio station owners and more likely to own a single station. Female and minority owners were more also more likely to have a female president or CEO and employ women as general managers.
Carol Jenkins, president of The Women’s Media Center:
“That women are acutely under-represented in ownership is part of the larger crisis of representation and participation in the media overall. In the case of radio, it’s a pipeline issue: When 85 to 90 percent of general managers and program directors are men, women simply don’t acquire the skills to run — and then own — radio stations.”
Off the Dial follows Out of the Picture, an analysis of broadcast television stations released last year, which found similarly low levels of female and minority ownership.
Mark Lloyd, chair of the Media and Telecommunications Task Force at LCCR:
“Our entire federal government, from the FCC to Congress and the courts, is to blame for the shameful lack of media diversity this important report reveals. We must begin to hold our representatives responsible for licensing who gets access to the public spectrum. And a licensing scheme that has locked out women and minorities since the early 1920s must be corrected to reflect America in the 21st century.”
Read Off the Dial: How Media Consolidation Diminishes Diversity on the Radio.
Listen to the national press call.
