Nija
05-29-2003, 03:09 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When a toxic cloud wafted through the town of Minot, North Dakota, last year, its citizens tuned to the local radio station for emergency information, only to be greeted by computerized music.
So began an ABC World News report on the perils of media consolidation. The report went on to highlight fears that broadcast news outlets have become less responsive to local viewers because they are owned by only a few conglomerates.
Yet, with a critical vote on media ownership rules by the Federal Communications Commission expected in the coming week, that May 15 ABC report is the only primetime network coverage of any kind devoted to the rule changes, according to a news tracking service, and some charge the nation's broadcasters have employed a self-serving blackout on the debate.
"There has been a thundering silence in the broadcast media about the broadcast industry's push to eliminate media ownership rules," said Chris Murray, legislative counsel at Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports.
The pending changes to FCC policy would ease restrictions that bar a single company from owning more than one television station in larger markets or from owning a newspaper and a radio or television outlet.
Under the new rules, the FCC is also expected to permit TV networks to own stations that reach a combined 45 percent of the national audience.
"One of the reasons that it did not get a lot of coverage is the inherent conflict of interest that most of these media companies have," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "All of them have a stake in the outcome."
For its part, network broadcast news directors say they have covered the issue like any other news event. They also say there isn't as much early interest in regulatory issues.
A February survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed that about three-fourths of people polled were unaware of the FCC proposals.
The Pew study was conducted not long after the FCC began holding local hearings around the country to gauge public opinion. Few, if any of these hearings were covered by the broadcast media, say those opposed to the proposed rules.
PBS documentarian Bill Moyers was one of the few exceptions, they say. Moyers has produced several shows on public television devoted to the topic, and is of the opinion that the public is out of the loop on the issue.
"In fact, CBS News and Fox...are owned by the two media conglomerates with the most to gain from this decision. And they have not covered this story," he said on a May 23 show.
CBS is owned by Viacom Inc. while the Fox network is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
NEWS BUSINESS AS USUAL
Broadcasters reject charges that there has been a conspiracy of silence on the FCC debate and argue that it has adhered to standard news practices.
"It's an issue of great importance to our viewers and importance to the industry in which we work," said Paul Slavin, senior vice president of ABC News, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co.
But he added that time constraints made it difficult to devote a full four minutes to the complex issue, as the ABC World News report did.
"For us, four minutes on the evening news is big. I don't remember when we spent that kind of time on a single subject."
Representatives of CBS and NBC say their networks are preparing segments on the issue leading up to June 2, when the FCC decision is expected.
"The story thus far has been an industry story," said CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius in a telephone interview. "We have been following it closely and as we speak, CBS Evening News is shooting a story."
Indeed, analysts said stories dealing with complex regulatory processes do not usually attract great attention.
"It's not entirely surprising that regulatory stories are not the sort of stories that get heavy coverage on television news," said Andrew Tyndall, who publishes a network news analysis report. "Whether it's the EPA or FDA, or (any other) alphabet soups stories, they're not the bread and butter of television network news."
But critics say broadcasters have acted in a way that has called into question their fairness and impartiality.
"We're talking about potentially the most monumental change in structure of the media industry that the public has seen in decades," said Murray of the Consumer Unions. "The public, we found, has been extremely responsive and concerned about this story, once told this story."
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bastiges....
I already hate clear channel, and now they are trying to deregulate tv....:angry:
So began an ABC World News report on the perils of media consolidation. The report went on to highlight fears that broadcast news outlets have become less responsive to local viewers because they are owned by only a few conglomerates.
Yet, with a critical vote on media ownership rules by the Federal Communications Commission expected in the coming week, that May 15 ABC report is the only primetime network coverage of any kind devoted to the rule changes, according to a news tracking service, and some charge the nation's broadcasters have employed a self-serving blackout on the debate.
"There has been a thundering silence in the broadcast media about the broadcast industry's push to eliminate media ownership rules," said Chris Murray, legislative counsel at Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports.
The pending changes to FCC policy would ease restrictions that bar a single company from owning more than one television station in larger markets or from owning a newspaper and a radio or television outlet.
Under the new rules, the FCC is also expected to permit TV networks to own stations that reach a combined 45 percent of the national audience.
"One of the reasons that it did not get a lot of coverage is the inherent conflict of interest that most of these media companies have," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "All of them have a stake in the outcome."
For its part, network broadcast news directors say they have covered the issue like any other news event. They also say there isn't as much early interest in regulatory issues.
A February survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed that about three-fourths of people polled were unaware of the FCC proposals.
The Pew study was conducted not long after the FCC began holding local hearings around the country to gauge public opinion. Few, if any of these hearings were covered by the broadcast media, say those opposed to the proposed rules.
PBS documentarian Bill Moyers was one of the few exceptions, they say. Moyers has produced several shows on public television devoted to the topic, and is of the opinion that the public is out of the loop on the issue.
"In fact, CBS News and Fox...are owned by the two media conglomerates with the most to gain from this decision. And they have not covered this story," he said on a May 23 show.
CBS is owned by Viacom Inc. while the Fox network is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
NEWS BUSINESS AS USUAL
Broadcasters reject charges that there has been a conspiracy of silence on the FCC debate and argue that it has adhered to standard news practices.
"It's an issue of great importance to our viewers and importance to the industry in which we work," said Paul Slavin, senior vice president of ABC News, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co.
But he added that time constraints made it difficult to devote a full four minutes to the complex issue, as the ABC World News report did.
"For us, four minutes on the evening news is big. I don't remember when we spent that kind of time on a single subject."
Representatives of CBS and NBC say their networks are preparing segments on the issue leading up to June 2, when the FCC decision is expected.
"The story thus far has been an industry story," said CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius in a telephone interview. "We have been following it closely and as we speak, CBS Evening News is shooting a story."
Indeed, analysts said stories dealing with complex regulatory processes do not usually attract great attention.
"It's not entirely surprising that regulatory stories are not the sort of stories that get heavy coverage on television news," said Andrew Tyndall, who publishes a network news analysis report. "Whether it's the EPA or FDA, or (any other) alphabet soups stories, they're not the bread and butter of television network news."
But critics say broadcasters have acted in a way that has called into question their fairness and impartiality.
"We're talking about potentially the most monumental change in structure of the media industry that the public has seen in decades," said Murray of the Consumer Unions. "The public, we found, has been extremely responsive and concerned about this story, once told this story."
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bastiges....
I already hate clear channel, and now they are trying to deregulate tv....:angry: