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Forum Finds Media Concentration a Threat to Journalism: Experts Urge FCC to Keep Ban on Newpaper-Tel
Washington, D.C. – A panel of experts on media and news reporting reinforced the need to retain the Federal Communications Commission standard that restricts joint ownership of a daily newspaper and broadcast station in the same local market.
The forum, held at the National Press Club on Friday, March 15, was sponsored by 28 organizations – unions in journalism and broadcasting, public interest and consumer groups, civil rights and women's organizations and academics. The session focused attention on the FCC's ongoing review of the ban on newspaper-television cross ownership in local markets, with panelists stressing that the rule is as important today as when it was adopted in 1975.
Opening the session was Paul E. Almeida, president of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, who pointed out that in this era of media merger-mania, quality, substance and genuine news competition have given way to balance sheets and profit margins. FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps then presented opening remarks and introduced the panelists.
Professor Douglas Gomery of the University of Maryland School of Journalism outlined his conclusion, in a report released today by the Economic Policy Institute, that the FCC rule banning newspapers from owning television stations in the same market is the last bastion for maintaining divergent viewpoints in most American communities.
"Giving any owner an exclusive monopoly over a locality's two top news sources might generate more company profits, but has a negative economic, social, cultural and political impact," Gomery said.
Gomery's analysis documented that the rule has been an essential safeguard for providing a diverse media marketplace of ideas. He pointed out that only about half a dozen communities nationwide have more than one daily newspaper and that in most communities, only a single local cable provider chooses which cable network channels to offer local viewers. These cable networks are owned in part, or completely, by one of five major media conglomerates.
Linda Foley, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA and moderator of the session, supported those concerns, pointing out that ownership of media resources does matter because "who owns the property makes a very big difference in the way that decisions are made." The availability of technological resources doesn't mean that those resources will be available to everyone in the community, she said, adding, "the key measure is how those resources are used to advance the quality of journalism."
Veteran broadcaster Edward Fouhy, a founding member of the Pew Center of Civic Journalism and former news director and Washington, D.C., bureau chief, discussed how the content and quality of journalism is affected by the ownership of media resources.
Other participants included Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America, who spoke on the current state of media concentration and how repeal of the ban would worsen market conditions; Belva Davis, broadcaster and six-time local Emmy award winner, on her experiences at a San Francisco cross-owned television station; Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, on concerns about diversity in news broadcasting and local news coverage; and Professor Stephen Kimber, Kings College School of Journalism, who resigned as a columnist with the Halifax Daily News to protest censorship by CanWest, Canada's largest media conglomerate.
In a joint statement, the sponsoring organizations stressed that "in an environment increasingly dominated by a handful of large multi-media corporations, the elimination of the cross-ownership ban will exacerbate market concentration in both large and small communities and thereby diminish the numbers and diversity of alternative voices and adversely affect the quality of localism in news reporting."
The newspaper broadcast cross ownership rule was designed to promote the diversity of viewpoint and economic competition in broadcast. When the rule was adopted, the FCC stressed that "it is essential to a democracy that its electorate be informed and have access to divergent viewpoints on controversial issues" and that it was "unrealistic to expect true diversity from a commonly owned station-newspaper combination."
The current rule does allow the FCC to grant a waiver to the rule, based on local market conditions.
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For more information, contact Mike Gildea, executive director, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, 202-638-0320, ext. 22, or Cheryl Leanza, deputy director, Media Access Project, 202-454-5683.
The forum, held at the National Press Club on Friday, March 15, was sponsored by 28 organizations – unions in journalism and broadcasting, public interest and consumer groups, civil rights and women's organizations and academics. The session focused attention on the FCC's ongoing review of the ban on newspaper-television cross ownership in local markets, with panelists stressing that the rule is as important today as when it was adopted in 1975.
Opening the session was Paul E. Almeida, president of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, who pointed out that in this era of media merger-mania, quality, substance and genuine news competition have given way to balance sheets and profit margins. FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps then presented opening remarks and introduced the panelists.
Professor Douglas Gomery of the University of Maryland School of Journalism outlined his conclusion, in a report released today by the Economic Policy Institute, that the FCC rule banning newspapers from owning television stations in the same market is the last bastion for maintaining divergent viewpoints in most American communities.
"Giving any owner an exclusive monopoly over a locality's two top news sources might generate more company profits, but has a negative economic, social, cultural and political impact," Gomery said.
Gomery's analysis documented that the rule has been an essential safeguard for providing a diverse media marketplace of ideas. He pointed out that only about half a dozen communities nationwide have more than one daily newspaper and that in most communities, only a single local cable provider chooses which cable network channels to offer local viewers. These cable networks are owned in part, or completely, by one of five major media conglomerates.
Linda Foley, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA and moderator of the session, supported those concerns, pointing out that ownership of media resources does matter because "who owns the property makes a very big difference in the way that decisions are made." The availability of technological resources doesn't mean that those resources will be available to everyone in the community, she said, adding, "the key measure is how those resources are used to advance the quality of journalism."
Veteran broadcaster Edward Fouhy, a founding member of the Pew Center of Civic Journalism and former news director and Washington, D.C., bureau chief, discussed how the content and quality of journalism is affected by the ownership of media resources.
Other participants included Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America, who spoke on the current state of media concentration and how repeal of the ban would worsen market conditions; Belva Davis, broadcaster and six-time local Emmy award winner, on her experiences at a San Francisco cross-owned television station; Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, on concerns about diversity in news broadcasting and local news coverage; and Professor Stephen Kimber, Kings College School of Journalism, who resigned as a columnist with the Halifax Daily News to protest censorship by CanWest, Canada's largest media conglomerate.
In a joint statement, the sponsoring organizations stressed that "in an environment increasingly dominated by a handful of large multi-media corporations, the elimination of the cross-ownership ban will exacerbate market concentration in both large and small communities and thereby diminish the numbers and diversity of alternative voices and adversely affect the quality of localism in news reporting."
The newspaper broadcast cross ownership rule was designed to promote the diversity of viewpoint and economic competition in broadcast. When the rule was adopted, the FCC stressed that "it is essential to a democracy that its electorate be informed and have access to divergent viewpoints on controversial issues" and that it was "unrealistic to expect true diversity from a commonly owned station-newspaper combination."
The current rule does allow the FCC to grant a waiver to the rule, based on local market conditions.
###
For more information, contact Mike Gildea, executive director, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, 202-638-0320, ext. 22, or Cheryl Leanza, deputy director, Media Access Project, 202-454-5683.