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Media Unions Raise Concentration Concerns
Media unions challenged news operations to cover "the story the media is ignoring," the Federal Communications Commission's pending decision on relaxing the rules for media ownership, at a news briefing in Washington.
The FCC is considering lifting restrictions on cross ownership between local television stations and newspapers, among other changes. This major public policy change will have a significant impact on the availability and diversity of news and entertainment sources, the unions said.
The Newspaper Guild-CWA, American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, and Writers Guild of America, East, along with the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, sponsored a critique of 12 studies commissioned by the FCC as part of its review.
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of the analysis, summarized his report, "Democracy Unhinged," which concludes that the FCC studies raise serious questions about the impact of concentration on diversity of news and entertainment.
The evidence offered by the FCC studies in some cases demonstrates the opposite of what the FCC's summary suggests, Baker pointed out. The FCC's studies "suggest that concentration in the media industry does pose a problem in maintaining a diverse flow of entertainment and information for individuals, as well as reasonably priced advertising options for businesses," he said.
The FCC is considering lifting restrictions on cross ownership between local television stations and newspapers, among other changes. This major public policy change will have a significant impact on the availability and diversity of news and entertainment sources, the unions said.
The Newspaper Guild-CWA, American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, and Writers Guild of America, East, along with the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, sponsored a critique of 12 studies commissioned by the FCC as part of its review.
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of the analysis, summarized his report, "Democracy Unhinged," which concludes that the FCC studies raise serious questions about the impact of concentration on diversity of news and entertainment.
The evidence offered by the FCC studies in some cases demonstrates the opposite of what the FCC's summary suggests, Baker pointed out. The FCC's studies "suggest that concentration in the media industry does pose a problem in maintaining a diverse flow of entertainment and information for individuals, as well as reasonably priced advertising options for businesses," he said.