Media Moguls

Many WAISers have expressed concern over the cooking of the news by media moguls. This concern has been expressed forcibly by Greg Palast in The Best Government Money Can Buy. Peter Orne forwards an article "Ideologically Broad Coalition Assails F.C.C. Media Plan" by Stephen Labaton (New York Times, 5/28/03). Peter says: "Debate is heating up about the easing of federal rules prohibiting a single company from owning all media -- TV, radio, newspaper, cable -- in single town. Critics both predictable and prickly are crawling out of the woodwork, from Howard Dean of Vermont to the National Rifle Association". Here is the opening passage:

"A broad coalition of both conservative and liberal organizations expressed deep criticism today of a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to relax the rules that have restricted the nation's largest media conglomerates from growing bigger. The groups took part in a meeting convened by the two Democratic commissioners, Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein, who oppose the plan. But few, if any, of the participants expected that the meeting would change the outcome of next week's vote on the matter. The commission's three Republicans have already signaled their intention to support the changes.

The debate is likely to continue afterward in Congress -- the five commissioners are expected to testify at a Senate hearing a few days after the vote. And some lawmakers have already begun to lay the groundwork to reverse the commission on some of the rules even before the agency has voted to change them. Soon before going into this week's recess, several prominent members in the House and the Senate introduced legislation to preserve some of the rules. But it was unclear whether they would have the votes to overcome the agency's expected action".

Ronald Hilton - 5/30/03