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News Briefing Critiques FCC Studies on Media Cross Ownership, Concludes that Media Concentration Mea

News from the Communications Workers of America
The Union for the Information Age

Washington, D.C. -- Major media unions are challenging news operations to cover the Federal Communications Commission's pending action on changing the rules for media ownership.

The FCC is considering lifting restrictions on cross ownership between local television stations and newspapers, between local radio stations and newspapers, on mergers or other combinations of television broadcast networks, and on the number of local television or radio stations owned by one entity, among other changes. Easing these rules is a major change in public policy that will have significant impact on the availability and diversity of news and entertainment sources.

Last year, the FCC commissioned a set of studies to provide information and insight on issues raised by increased media concentration. These studies generally have been interpreted, by some at the FCC and others in the industry, as supporting the view that growing media concentration does not affect diversity and access to information and opinion.

Disagreeing with this premise, major media unions and the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, sponsored a critique of the 12 studies on media ownership. The unions, the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, and Writers Guild of America, East, as well as other labor organizations in news and entertainment, also will participate in field hearings on this issue. FCC Chairman Powell will hold a hearing in Richmond, Va., in February, and other hearings may be held.

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of the analysis, presented his findings at a Wednesday, Dec. 18 news briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

His report, "Democracy Unhinged," concludes that the FCC studies raise serious questions about the impact of concentration on diversity of news and entertainment and in fact raise real concerns about this growing concentration.
The evidence offered by the FCC studies in some cases demonstrates the opposite of what the FCC summary suggests, Baker noted. One study found that there is little substitution between types of media as news sources, and that, in fact, if individuals receive less news from one source they are likely to receive less from all sources. (Waldfogel, 2000)

An earlier study by Waldfogel also makes the case that media concentration has a negative impact on the quality of local news and in turn, on participation in local government, civic affairs and voting. That study found that readers view national newspapers (the New York Times) as a substitute for local daily newspapers, and in markets with greater increases in Times circulation, educated consumers purchase local papers less and vote less in local elections as Times penetration grows.

This research tracks with a study by the State of the American Newspaper Project of the American Journalism Review (1998) which determined that there has been a significant decline in reporting about state government activities and therefore in the ability of citizens to be informed about government actions and their likelihood to vote.

Baker's review also found:

• There was a sharp falloff in the rate of growth in media outlets and owners in the 1980-2000 period, compared to the prior 20-year period. (Roberts et al, 2002)

• The rate of growth in the number of broadcast television stations has fallen off sharply over the last decade, dropping to 5.7 percent from 1995 through the end of the decade. (Levy et al, 2002)

• Radio stations on a national basis have shown less diversity in the songs played in recent years, (Williams et al., 2002) while increased concentration of ownership has allowed stations to rapidly hike their advertising rates – 68 percent in the five years following the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (Brown and Williams, 2002). The Telecommunications Act ended national radio ownership limits, resulting in rapid consolidation of the radio industry.

Overall, the FCC's studies, when taken as a whole, "suggest that concentration in the media industry does pose a problem in maintaining a diverse flow of entertainment and information for individuals, as well as reasonably priced advertising options for businesses," Baker said.

An important concern not addressed by any of the studies is the extent to which the commercial interests of the media outlets or their advertisers may affect the content of news and entertainment, he added.

Baker's analysis also made reference to design flaws and other problems in some of the studies that limited their usefulness.

This issue is fundamental to our democracy and to people's full access to credible information, said Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA. "If restrictions on media ownership are lifted, the local forum for diversity, differing viewpoints and opinion will disappear," she said.

"Reporters and editors are working as hard as ever to maintain high standards of journalism, but they're at the mercy of a shrinking number of media companies that decide which stories we'll see and hear," she added.

Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO's Department for Professional Employees, asserted that more media concentration means "contraction in the quantity and quality of news and information available to the American public. Right now news coverage is disappearing as media companies slash staff and resources," Almeida charged. If the FCC weakens or repeals its ownership regulations, "the bedrock of our democratic society-an informed public-will be irreparably damaged," he said.

Tom Carpenter, AFTRA's national director of broadcast, agreed. "The free flow of information and ideas is central to our democracy. Deregulation of the broadcasting industry has led to a disastrous consolidation of media, which erodes localism as well as diversity of music and editorial perspective," he said.

Mona Mangan, executive director, WGAE, predicted that a repeal of the rules would cause a feeding frenzy of corporate acquisitions. "The inevitable consolidation will result in the same number of viewing hours but will offer less choice. We'll get homogenized news with pre-determined coverage and a much narrower viewpoint. Changes like these do not bode well for democracy."

A better course to follow, according to TNG-CWA's Foley, is the U.S. Supreme Court's direction which found that the First Amendment freedom of the press "rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." (AP v. FCC, 1945) The high court has since reaffirmed the correlation between ownership and editorial viewpoint in several decisions, most recently in Turner v. FCC (1994).

Baker's report, Democracy Unhinged, is available at www.dpeaflcio.org. The FCC studies can be found at www.fcc.gov/ownership/studies.html.


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