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| - Tell The FCC to Stop Big Media in PA
* The Federal Communications Commission and industry lobbyists are trying to let huge media companies get even bigger by resurrecting the same rule changes that millions of Americans rejected in 2003. In June, 2006, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin began the process of relaxing ownership rules. If he prevails, we will see the further demise of local news, independent voices and critical journalism. In 2003, your letters and calls stopped this nonsense. Now we need to do it again. Tell the FCC that Big Media is Big Enough Your action today makes a difference. Onward,
- Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation) is a commonly used term among media critics, policy makers, and others to characterize ownership structure of mass media industries. These individual media industries are often referred to as a 'Media Institution'. Media ownership is said to be exemplified usually in one or more of the following ways.
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| abstract
| - Tell The FCC to Stop Big Media in PA
* The Federal Communications Commission and industry lobbyists are trying to let huge media companies get even bigger by resurrecting the same rule changes that millions of Americans rejected in 2003. In June, 2006, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin began the process of relaxing ownership rules. If he prevails, we will see the further demise of local news, independent voices and critical journalism. In 2003, your letters and calls stopped this nonsense. Now we need to do it again. Tell the FCC that Big Media is Big Enough This is the first step in Chairman Martin's calculated effort to gut some of the last remaining limits on media ownership. When the FCC last tried to change these rules under then-Chairman Michael Powell, some 3 million people contacted the FCC and Congress to oppose the action. The rule changes were later overturned by the courts, sending the FCC back to the drawing board. Now Chairman Martin -- backed by the biggest media giants -- is angling to eliminate the newspaper-broadcast "cross-ownership" ban that prevents a single conglomerate from owning the major daily newspaper as well as radio and TV stations in a single market. And he wants to lift local ownership caps on how many TV stations one company can own in your town. If these rule changes were approved, one company could own the major paper, eight radio stations and three television stations in the same city. A handful of huge companies already control nearly all of the media in America. Such concentration destroys local news, sidelines dissenting views, and stifles competition. When we allow one company to own everything, we lose the diversity of views that is the lifeblood of our democracy. Take Action To Stop Big Media: Send Your Comments to the FCC Today, a diverse alliance of groups launched the www.StopBigMedia.com Coalition to make sure that the public voice is heard before Washington policymakers sell what's left of the local and independent media. The only way we'll win is to flood the FCC docket with more than a million public comments opposing further media consolidation. Your action today makes a difference. Onward, Robert W. McChesney, President, Free Press P.S. Help get a million public comments into the FCC. Forward this email to five friends and ask them to take action now. P.P.S. For more on what's at stake, read FCC Commissioner Michael Copps commentary in the Financial Times: www.freepress.net/news/16168
- Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation) is a commonly used term among media critics, policy makers, and others to characterize ownership structure of mass media industries. These individual media industries are often referred to as a 'Media Institution'. Media ownership is said to be exemplified usually in one or more of the following ways. First there is a state of oligopoly or monopoly in a given media industry. For example, movie production is known to be dominated by major studios since the early 20th Century; before that, there was a period in which Edison's Trust monopolized the industry. The music and television industries recently witnessed cases of media consolidation, with Sony Music Entertainment's parent company merging their music division with Bertelsmann AG's BMG to form Sony BMG and TimeWarner's The WB and CBS Corp.'s UPN merging to form The CW. In the case of Sony BMG, there existed a "Big Five" (now "Big Four") of major companies, while The CW's creation was an attempt to consolidate ratings and stand up to the "Big Three" of American network (terrestrial) television. Second, there may be some large-scale owners in an industry that are not the causes of monopoly or oligopoly. Clear Channel Communications, especially since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, acquired many radio stations across the United States, and came to own more than 1,200 stations. However, the radio broadcasting industry in the United States and elsewhere can be regarded oligopolistic regardless of the existence of such a player. Because radio stations are local in reach, each licensed a specific part of airwave by the FCC in a specific local area, any local market is served by a limited number of stations. In most countries, this system of licensing makes many markets local oligopolies. The similar market structure exists for television broadcasting, cable systems and newspaper industries, all of which are characterized by the existence of large-scale owners. Concentration of ownership is often found in these industries. Third, concentration of media ownership often suggest the presence of media conglomerates. When a company owns many different types of media businesses, it is referred to as a media conglomerate. The seven current media conglomerates are Disney, CBS, Time Warner, News Corp, Bertelsmann AG, Viacom and General Electric. These companies together own more than 90% of the media market.
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