"Big Media is a Threat"

Sentiments such as the one above were common last night as a couple hundred citizens gathered in Columbus to provide testimony at the Future of Media hearing attended by FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell. Hear is bit of what I heard:

Panelists and citizens alike told stories of how minority-owned broadcasting was central to bringing attention to injustices in the community. They lamented how changes in ownership rules and lack of federal oversight on media mergers has decimated the ranks of minority broadcasters and, as a result, erased issues and communities from public discussion.

Plain-Dealer reporter Connie Shultz told of how she used to work about competition from broadcasters when she es investigating a story. Now she never fears competition but instead, found herself assisting a clueless TV reporter who didn't even know why he was covering a trial on white collar crime. Because of consolidation, broadcaster no longer have the personnel or the interest to do any investigative reporting.

Catherine Turcer from Citizen Action told of studies that showed that in Columbus and Cleveland, during the 2006 elections, that campaign coverage averaged only 1.5 minutes per newscast. Of that 4%, or 3.6 seconds, was dedicated to local news.

Citizens hoping to dialog with station managers found managers hostile to the idea of public input.

Of course, you will not read any of this in the Columbus Dispatch. You can read a nice summary in the Canton Repository. There was plenty of independent coverage of the hearing and as that media becomes available I will link to it from here.

[Update: Free Press posted this article about the hearing.]

And since I am running my own press here, I'll share with you the testimony I prepared and, for the most part, delivered in two minutes:

My airwaves are a $1 trillion dollars profit engine. I want some return on my investment. Instead, I see the following:

I see news anchors and DJs hosting charitable events. Yet I rarely see the work and concerns of hundreds of civic organizations in local media. Instead I see crime, fires, celebrity escapades and stories that look suspiciously of video news releases with the local anchor’s voice pasted over top.

I recently attended a community meeting where I learned that the foreign born population of Central Ohio is equal to the population of Youngstown. One would never know this from commercial media. How can we solve our local challenges if we do not even know our neighbors?

Two TV stations owned by Sinclair broadcasting with only one newsroom and one set of reporters yet taking double the opportunity to editorialize from the east coast without having to engage anyone locally about its content nor offer an opportunity to reply.

I spin my AM radio dial in the evening I hear the same syndicated talk shows on more than one station. Jumping to FM I hear sporting events that also heard on the AM side. And it’s rare when I hear local music instead of what is being pushed by the record or advertising industry.

During recent elections I was bombarded with campaign ads making the most provocative claims and accusations yet neither the ads nor the issues received any sustained or serious coverage on commercial media. How can we cast informed votes if this is what passes for political information?

We have what proposed rule changes would allow everywhere: One company owning the newspaper, television and multiple radio stations, and weekly papers. I do not trust this arrangement. I want my local media to be a check on power, not have the power to elevate or silence an issue because it controls much of the information flow.

Broadcasters say they are giving the people what they want. This is a hollow argument. The entire media industry is dedicated to turning me into a tidy demographic to be delivered, instead of treating me a citizen to be served.

Broadcasters say there are alternatives. But we are falling short there also. We are far from having truly universal and affordable broadband in Ohio, and even we did, the real work of journalism is still being done by the dwindling ranks of professional reporters. The power to create public space on local cable systems is seriously weakened by the FCC’s recent order limiting local regulatory power. And our local Low Power FM licensees, working to bring local voices to the airwaves, have to be on guard against full power predators who want spectrum to give us yet another prepackaged format.

No so-called alternative removes any responsibility from broadcasters. It is time to give the people what they want and what they deserve. Media that treats us as citizens and is worthy of the democracy we claim to practice.

Thank-you.

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