Kevin J. Martin’s train of thought has long since derailed. In a Nov. 13 press release, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman claims that his proposed changes to the FCC newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule would save what is, according to him, the dying newspaper industry. Not true.
Chairman Martin would allow companies that already own a daily newspaper in the 20 largest U.S. media markets to buy a radio or television station that reaches the same audience. Martin believes that cross-ownership would give newspapers financial security and thus the means to finance more extensive reporting.
“Newspapers in financial difficulty often have little choice but to scale back news gathering to cut costs. Allowing cross-ownership may help to forestall the erosion in local news coverage by enabling companies that own both newspapers and broadcast stations to share some costs,” Martin said in his Nov. 13 The New York Times Op-Ed piece.
A problem arises from the logic behind the cost-sharing argument: Where would a financially struggling newspaper find the money to buy a broadcast news outlet, let alone a broadcast news outlet in one of the top 20 media markets?
Martin has not answered this question. In fact, he has not shown any understanding of the impact of cross-ownership and consolidation on the American media.
Nor has Martin shown any regard for the content of the six public hearings that the FCC board conducted over the past 18 months. Pacifica Radio broadcast the final hearing, held in Seattle, Washington on Nov. 9. Every person in over an hour of testimony that evening spoke passionately against any loosening of the current media ownership rules. According to an article on www.reclaimthemedia.org, over the course of the nine hours and six minutes of testimony, more than 1,100 people from five different states and all political backgrounds attended the hearing.
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, warned the attendees that the FCC’s Republican majority feels more accountable to ‘big media’ than to the American people.
“Unfortunately, it looks like the media conglomerates’ agenda is far ahead of yours at the FCC,” Adelstein said. “If you see a proposal for more consolidation made quickly after this final hearing, you’ll know your input was dismissed.”
Sadly, Commissioner Adelstein was all too right. Chairman Martin has no qualms about authorizing the systematic, corporate annihilation of independent media voices – he began this process only four days after the hearing with his press release – and launching American journalism into a state of depression in terms of journalistic integrity, writing quality, and newsgathering ability. A prime example of the damage that media consolidation can cause is the San Jose Mercury News.
MediaNews Group, one of the largest newspaper companies in the U.S., owns the Mercury News, along with 56 other daily newspapers nationwide.
The front-page story in the Nov. 25 edition of the Mercury News is an ineffectual spotlight on the ways that the Silicon Valley benefits from globalization. Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, millions of people are homeless and 3,100 are dead in the aftermath of a tropical cyclone, and in Burma, the army imprisons students and monks for protesting an oppressive military dictatorship. Several local issues too, such as poverty and gang activity, deserve more attention and are much more worthy of a spotlight piece than how Silicon Valley benefits from globalization.
The Mercury News publishes more of this useless “news” every day, thanks in part to massive newsroom cuts common as cost-cutting measures in newspapers owned by large corporations. In the most recent cut, which took place in July, the Mercury did away with 40 of its 240 editorial department positions.
“This is a loss that the community is going to feel. We’re not going to have the newspaper we have today,” Sylvia Ulloa said, as quoted in the Associated Press article San Jose Paper Announces 17% Cut in Newsroom. Ulloa is the president of the San Jose Newspapers Guild and a designer for the Mercury.
The Mercury News has the 48th largest daily circulation in the nation. If the quality of journalism that the Mercury gives its readers is all that can be expected from one of the top 50 U.S. dailies, then something is wrong. That something is media consolidation.
Martin insists that his proposal serves the public interest, yet consolidation has been shown to promote shoddy, useless journalism and an uninformed populace. According to Chairman Martin, ignorance is back by popular demand.