Sunday, May 15, 2005
 
FCC Commissioners Don't Warn of Efforts to Over-Regulate Media
Story in St. Louis Post-Dispatch: FCC commissioners warn of effort to consolidate media:
    Two members of the Federal Communication Commission called upon the public Saturday to help their agency resist new efforts to relax rules allowing big corporations to own more television and radio stations.

    Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, the commission members, spoke before an overflow crowd to the National Conference for Media Reform at the Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis. More than 2,200 people from across the country are attending the three-day conference.

    The federal agency voted to relax its rules on media consolidation two years ago, but Congress and the courts intervened to stop it.

    Copps said the three Republican members of the commission, a majority, are ready to try again. He expects big media companies to bring "a lot of pressure" on the commission to allow more consolidation of newspapers and radio and television stations.
With the explosion of new media types such as blogging, podcasting, satellite radio, and coming media forms that are directly consumer-interactive such as streaming movies and Internet video, I think the major media companies will fight for a diminishing share of consumers.

However, certain segments of the FCC want to ensure that it retains the ability to regulate businesses as much as possible. Because as the audience fractures and the broadcast media become less relevant, so too the functionaries and appointees who regulate it. Unless the demonstrate some vision and leadership to intrude upon other, non-airwave media, too.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:13 PM
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home
 
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."