It looks like the media attention to the issue of ownership is slowly starting to ratchet up. Like all media coverage, these things tend to snowball — coverage begats coverage. However, these stories are still running in the business section or in media-specific arenas. I’m still waiting to see something on the front page of the NY Times.
So, here’s what I’ve come across today:
The LA Times reports on the FCC proposal to raise cable ownership limits — which apparently, the FCC wasn’t too happy about being leaked.
NPR’s “On the Media” interviewed FCC Commissioner Michael Copps on the Dec. 13 edition of the program. We can probably thank Commissioner Copps for some of the recent coverage of the issue, since he took the step of publicly admonishing the commission for not sufficiently airing the debate. Copps also addressed the question of media coverage of ownership and consolidation in the interview:
BOB GARFIELD: There seems to be very little coverage on -about the media consolidation issue on NBC -owned by General Electric; on CBS – owned by Viacom; on ABC – owned by Walt Disney; on the Fox Newschannel — it, is it because– the subject does make viewers’ eyes glaze over or do you believe that the conflict of interest has actually tainted the news departments and kept them from covering this issue?
MICHAEL J. COPPS: I would rather say that I’m going to do everything I possibly can to encourage them, to go around and talk to them, to cover this story and– if I don’t see it covered, I, I might be in– a little better position to answer that question. But if that separation is there and is valid, then I think we’ll see their news folks going out and covering the issue, and I think when the American people begin to express their concern on it, they’ll have to cover the issue.
Of course, Copps isn’t going to actually admit that journalists and their editors are inherently biased against seeing media ownership issues as something of general civic concern. They live with an inherent paradox — recognizing that paradox tears down the house of cards. As an FCC commissioner, even a somewhat progressive one, he’s still part of the establishment that must accept the fundamental ideologies of capitalist media and journalism. To do this job Copps must accept the notion that the magic of journalistic integrity and objectivity means that journalists and editors simply don’t believe there’s a story that yet needs telling — give it to the business editors so the media stock owners can make good business decisions.
Ah, so how do we escape the public radio (and community radio) ghetto? How do we get this issue on 60 Minutes and Dateline NBC?
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