More on Tampa Media Ownership Hearing

DOES MEDIA'S MIX LACK FLAVORS?
[SOURCE: St Petersburg Times, AUTHOR: Eric Deggans]
It didn't take long for Monday's public hearing on media ownership issues by the Federal Communications Commission to boil down to a single question: Does media "convergence" - pooling the news-gathering resources of commonly owned news outlets, particularly as practiced by Tampa Tribune, WFLA-Ch. 8 and TBO.com owner Media General - serve the public good or subvert it? The crowd was a lively mix of media professionals, activists, politicians and observers, some of whom had waited for hours to address the commission. And those who spoke out against relaxing rules against further consolidation drew the largest applause.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/01/Business/Does_media_s_mix_lack.shtml
* Media Consolidation Hearing Provides a Lesson in How Not to Cover the News
Media General's news operation in Tampa is regularly cited by proponents of media consolidation to illustrate the possible benefits of allowing a single big media company to dominate a local market. But watching the company's web coverage of the FCC's media ownership hearing demonstrates how media owners can work to suppress views they don't like.
http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2007/04/media_consolidation_hear...
-- See for yourself -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjLALt2YMAU

BIG MEDIA: GOOD, BAD OR BOTH?
[SOURCE: Poynter Institute, AUTHOR: Pat Walters]
At times, the debate surrounding media ownership can appear singularly uncomplicated. Consolidation is evil, one person argues. Consolidation is good, says another. But if any one thing became clear at the FCC's media ownership hearing in Tampa, it is this: Like most public-policy issues, the question of media ownership is more complex than that. In all, more than 100 people spoke to the commissioners. But while opinions, viewpoints and stories were easy to come by, practical suggestions were scarce. When she spoke in the second panel, Poynter president Karen Brown Dunlap offered one. As she emphasized the importance of local public affairs reporting, Dunlap suggested the FCC require what she called a "community report" before relicensing any station. "It would be a return to a more rigorous assessment," she said. "It could involve a small task force of citizens, a cross-section of a community, led by a leader from outside that community, maybe a journalism professor." The task force would present its findings to the station leaders, the community and, ultimately, the FCC. "Clearly any one form of media ownership doesn't determine the quality of stewardship," Dunlap said. "Many communities suffer under local owners who bleed their stations for profits and to promote personal interests. There are large corporations, including chain owners who serve local communities with outstanding service."
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=122318&sid=56