Media Ownership Fight gets Red Hot

MEDIA OWNERSHIP FIGHT GETS RED HOT
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
While corporate America deluged the Federal Communications Commission today with comments on the media ownership docket, a small battalion of media reform groups publicized new research and public filings that urge the FCC not to scotch its broadcast ownership rules. "These studies make clear that media consolidation does not correlate with better, more local or more diverse media content," former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani told reporters at a press conference held in Washington, D.C. "To the contrary, they strongly suggest that media ownership rules should be tightened not relaxed." Tristani, now president of the Benton Foundation, announced the release of four academic papers sponsored by Benton and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) that take a critical look at media consolidation. The studies respond to the FCC's latest attempt to reconsider its media ownership regulations. Up for grabs are rules that limit how many radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers a company can own in the same market. The Benton/SSRC reports contend that: 1) Larger radio station groups do not offer more variety, 2) Newspaper/TV cross ownership doesn't facilitate more local news; 3) Women and minorities own almost no radio and television stations; and 4) Minorities intensely distrust mainstream news.
http://lasarletter.com/freepage.php?id=200610232

* For more on the research see http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/3800

See also --

* Benton, SSRC Say Bigger Media Isn't Better
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/10/23/daily.8/

* New rules for media may hurt diversity
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061023/BIZ/610230308/1001

* 2 Groups Challenge Easing of Media Ownership Regulations
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003286698

* FCC reassessing media ownership rules
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/24/MNGU6LUK351.DTL&feed=rss.news

* Studies call one owner of multiple media a bad idea
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-to.media24oct24,0,6583713.story?track=rss

* Push for tight regs
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952484.html?categoryid=18&cs=1&nid=2562

* Does Bigger Media = Better Media? Nope!
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/670/