The FCC Is Dead: Media Consolidation and the End of Public Interest

On May 28, 2003 ABC's Nightline featured a report on the sweeping proposal the FCC is going to pass on June 2nd. This proposal will effectively remove the last regulatory activity of the FCC on the broadcast media companies. Starting on June 2nd the world's largest mega media corporations such as Viacom, and AOL-Time will be allowed to own three TV stations in the same local market as well as the local newspaper.

Getting all of your information filtered, distilled, and approved from 3 or 4 media giant CEOs is such an obviously bad idea it needs no further elaboration.

With the unprecedented consolidation of media in the last 25 years, cynicism is so widespread that no one is surprised and no one is concerned. All we seem to wonder is how much longer the 0% interest car loan incentives are going to last.

The point I want to underscore is that it is the night of Thursday May 28th and Mr. Edelstein from the FCC commission reported on Nightline that it is a foregone conclusion that on Monday June 2nd this proposal will pass without any public debate and there is nothing we can do about it.

Ted Koppel did smear a little egg on the FCC chairman's face by saying in the opening monologue that the FCC Chairman backed out at the last moment of appearing on the Nightline special to explain why he was ramming the passage of the proposal despite the urging of the FCC commissioners and 150 members of Congress to take a little more time to develop some public debate.

Ted, way too little, way too late.

I can only hope that we disband the FCC altogether to save us all a little tax money for the FCC no longer has any rules to enforce. Come to think of it, what good are the reporters if we hear the news when it is too late for us to do anything about it? Huh Ted Koppel?