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Giving
Our Airwaves to the Media Moguls
by
Ralph Nader
June
2, 2003
There
is little doubt that the Federal Communications Commission, by a split 3 to 2
vote, will open more doors for the giant media moguls to acquire more radio,
television and newspaper properties in cities, towns and rural areas of this
country. By the same decision, they will close more doors on ideas, speakers,
writers, artists and small businesses either because doing so makes them more
profits or the moguls disagree with these various viewpoints.
FCC
Chairman Michael Powell refused to hold more than one public hearing on this
rule-making proceeding outside of Washington, D.C. So two other FCC
Commissioners - Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein - held over one dozen
unofficial public hearings in numerous cities, including a recent one in
Washington, none of which were attended by Chairman Powell.
The
hearings were packed. People care. Whether they are the National Organization
for Women or the National Rifle Association, or media magnates, Barry Diller or
Ted Turner, or Common Cause or William Safire, none want five or six chief
executives to decide what they hear, read or see.
ViacomÇs
CEO Sumner Redstone once said on television that what keeps him and his often
obstreperous number two man at Viacom, Mel Karmazin, together is their common
interest in boosting the companyÇs stock price. Not the companyÇs programming,
news staff diversity, localism and innovative content for a more informed and
enlightened audience. They sneer at such yardsticks, especially Karmazin - the
ultimate monetary mind.
But
the CEO of Clear Channel (owner of over 1200 radio stations) - Lowry Mays - is
just as monetized. He once said: ÑWeÇre not in the business of providing news
and information. WeÇre not in the business of providing well-researched music.
WeÇre simply in the business of selling our customers products.â
Such
commercialism would not be so appalling except that these media moguls are
doing all this on our property - the public airwaves - and paying us no rent
for exclusive use of our property. Yet they are deciding who says what and who
doesnÇt say what 24 hours a day. The public airwaves are the property of the
American people. The FCC is our hapless, industry-indentured (paid junkets are
a way of life for FCC officials) real estate agent that gives away the
spectrum.
There
is an historic safeguard written into the Communications Act of 1934 which
requires the FCC to regulate these radio and television stations according to
the Ñpublic convenience, interest or necessity.â Chairman Powell will finish
out his term without putting any modern content to this mandate for exercising
the public trust in his deliberations as the chief manager of the public
airwaves.
Interestingly,
the broadcast and newspaper industry split on these concentration rules.
Usually their trade association lobbies speak with one voice as they swarm over
Congress and the FCC. Family owned newspapers took a different position than
that taken by Gannett or other newspaper chains, while locally owned
independent TV and radio stations did not like these monopoly enhancements.
They believe, as Ted Turner wrote recently, that Ñwhen you lose small
businesses, you lose big ideas.â
But
the National Federation of Independent Business, which brags about its power to
defend and promote small business, took no position. Apparently, their leaders
are spending too much time huddling with big business to listen to the cries of
small businesses whose cost of advertising on radio goes up in direct relation
to the concentration of ownership of radio stations, such as in New York City.
This
is no obscure regulatory rule-making. Hundreds of thousands of comments have
arrived at FCC headquarters; there have been demonstrations and protests by
groups who usually disagree on public policy issues. What they have in common
is that they want a voice. They want to hear other voices beyond the canned
entertainment and political party lines that they are receiving.
Were
it not for the national absorption with the war in Iraq, the mushrooming
opposition to Chairman Powell and the media moguls might have been decisive. As
it was, the challenge moved toward critical mass too late for the June 2, 2003
decision which Chairman Powell refused to postpone.
There
remains the base of a large movement for recovering some diversity, localism
and competition from the mass media. It is bad enough that about 90 percent of
what is carried on television and radio is advertising and entertainment. Our
country needs serious talk, more good reporters, and citizen access to the
great but unseen and unheard talent in our land - from artists to candidates
for office.
Above
all, the people need to stop having to beg. We own the public airwaves and,
after charging the radio and TV stations rent, there will be ample funds for a
return to the people of their public airwaves for some time every day in the
form of their own audience network.
See www.csrl.org/modellaws/audiencenetwork.html.
Ralph Nader is America’s
leading consumer advocate. He is the founder of numerous public interest groups
including Public Citizen, and has twice
run for President as a Green Party candidate. His
latest book is Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for
President (St. Martin’s Press, 2002)