Media menu is shrinking fast

With members of Congress threatening to override the Federal Communications Commission's June 2 decision on cross-ownership of media sources, it's time to weigh in on the convoluted way Michael Powell sees the world (I'd suggest it runs in the family, but we won't go there). Lest you fear another whiny liberal complaint du jour, let me couch this in the form of an anecdote:

In early June, a citizens' lobbying group was holding a vigil at the three consolidated radio offices in Colorado Springs of Clear Channel Communications, the bad-guy behemoth that has expanded from 40 radio stations to more than 1,000. Clear Channel took over the local trio, leaving just one independent country music station sharing space in the building where the vigil took place.

As TV reporters asked about the connection between the FCC and Clear Channel, midlevel management and engineering staff at the country station arrived to cheer on the anti-Clear Channel rhetoric. Two deejays from the same station showed up to play devil's advocate. Even though other rebellious deejays there had publicly broken their station's ban on playing the Dixie Chicks, these particular jockeys were wondering what would be the problem if one or two companies owned all of the nation's media sources.

"But don't you remember all the people that worked at the other stations?" an assistant manager replied. "There's no one there but receptionists anymore. The stations all are run remotely, with no local deejays or engineers. You can call that efficient, but I call it fewer local jobs!"

A banner-toting lobbyist then pointed out to the TV reporter that if Viacom or Clear Channel begin owning multiple media properties, they can obviously close off entertainment venues by insisting on cross-media promotion lock-ins for favored artists. Less obviously, they can consolidate TV reporting in a few major cities, pooling reporters and sending teams to smaller cities from Denver or Dallas.

The TV reporter began her segment by saying, "If Michael Powell gets his way, this reporter could be replaced by a machine." Precisely.

If media conglomerates get bigger, there will be less diversity, less choice, and fewer jobs in communications and media. Consumers can't order what isn't on the menu. After June 2, that menu will dwindle to five items, served up by robots.

Loring Wirbel is Communications editorial director for EE Times and its network publications.

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