The Return of Big Media

One of the things this whole ridiculous Disney/Path to 9-11 flap showed was the dangers of media consolidation. Some on the progressive left have argued that in the Internet age media consolidation is no longer as big an issue. Well, Disney was able to disseminate their advertising to the ABC Radio Networks they owned (most of which are conservative) and vertically market their product to their self-selected audience. A media environment which is less local and more conglomerated really does a disservice to the whole country. Issues of Big Media rarely make the Big Media, and here's one of them, which I got in an email from FreePress:

We have just learned that former FCC Chairman Michael Powell buried evidence that showed media consolidation is harmful to local news reporting.

Powell suppressed a 2004 study to protect his friends in the corporate media lobby. It revealed that locally owned stations produced more local news than those owned by media giants -- such as ABC/Disney, Fox Television, Viacom and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

There's an AP story on this subject.

Media consolidation was a bigger issue for me prior to entering the blogosphere, which I still do see as helping the cause. But clearly the whole world isn't checking blogs every 5 minutes. There are vast areas of the country which rely on radio owned by 2 conglomerates, television owned by four or five, and maybe a movie made by one of six, tops. Local programming is vital to communities in terms of getting information they need about what's going on in their area.

The FCC needs to restore this study and heed its recommendations.