Over the last 25 years, the number of corporations that dominate television, movies, music, radio, cable and the Internet has dwindled from more than 50 to just a handful, write Norman Lear and
Robert McChesney in the
Los Angeles Times. The two ask: "Do we really want Big Media to get even bigger?" and note that "Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin does." Martin
has just launched a formal review of media ownership rules and while the notice is "vague. . .its intent is clear: to let a few giant media corporations swallow up more local television channels,
radio stations and newspapers in a single market." The main target for Martin is a ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership that prohibits one company from owning the major daily newspaper as well
as radio and TV stations in the same area. "He'd also like to allow one company to own more than one TV station in smaller markets, and more than two in the largest cities," the piece continues.
Adding that the last FCC boss tried the same thing and got shot down by a public outcry, Lear and McChesney conclude: "Martin's predecessor ignored public opinion at his peril. We hope the new
chairman will listen carefully to the voices of his real constituents, the American public. Nothing less than our democracy depends on it."
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