The University of Southern California Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and the New America Foundation’s Media Policy Initiative present a discussion with industry leaders and top policymakers on media ownership and the public interest. The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 24 from 2:00-4:30 p.m ET at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
Webcast:
Speakers include Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., National Association of Broadcasters General Counsel Jane Mago, Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America President Bernie Lunzer, Free Press President Craig Aaron, Former FCC Adviser Steven Waldman, among others.
CCLP senor fellow Adam Clayton Powell III will moderate the discussion. For a full list of speakers and to RSVP, click here.
The Federal Communications Commission will vote soon on proposed changes to loosen rules that now limit joint ownership of TV, radio and newspaper operations in the same town. This proposal has generated heated letters from dozens of members of Congress, media activists and the academic community. Does further media consolidation strengthen the financial prospects of journalism, or does it weaken the public interest goals of competition and diversity?
Those in favor of relaxing the rule argue that allowing the weaker TV stations in the top 20 markets to merge with newspapers is hardly a radical move and that it might actually improve news viability in those markets. Opponents argue there is too much media consolidation as it is now, pointing to ample evidence that greater consolidation will constrain the already limited opportunities for entry in many markets.
There are more than two sides to the argument. Some question the value of debating regulations on what they consider to be the dinosaurs of old media and seek an updated approach to contemporary media regulations. Still, others caution that we lack sufficient research to understand the impact of the proposed rule change on the public interest goals of competition, localism and diversity.
“The latest studies confirm that the vast majority of Americans continue to rely most heavily on local TV and local newspapers for information most important to them,” said Mark Lloyd, director of New America’s Media Policy Initiative. “The decisions made today because of the debate about who owns and controls these local institutions will matter for many years to come.”
“The underlying technological and economic structures of media in the U.S. have changed considerably in the years since the FCC last acted on ownership regulations,” said CCLP’s Powell. “Questions that need to be addressed include how regulatory policy should take note of those changes – and specifically whether the changed media landscape merits or mandates significant changes to regulation.”