As mentioned in earlier newsletters, in mid-November 2002 the FMC
released a comprehensive report on the effects of radio’s deregulation
on citizens and musicians. You can visit this webpage
to review the full report, the executive summary, the NAB’s “fact
sheet”, our rebuttal, or any of the supporting documents.
The study’s release and findings garnered a lot of attention
in the press and on Capitol Hill. Read the collected press clips here [PDF]
While we were confident that our report would be well received in
the media justice community, what we couldn’t have predicted
was the unprecedented amount of discussion about the state of commercial
radio and the subsequent developments in the ongoing debate about
media deregulation that followed its release. Here’s a rundown
of what has happened in the past three months.
In the Press
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Following the release of the study the FMC was invited to write a
piece for The Nation on radio deregulation, which ran in the January
13, 2003 issue. You can read that here:
Empire of the Air
by Jenny Toomey, Kristin Thomson, Peter DiCola and Michael Bracy
The
Nation, January 13, 2003
At the Policy Summit
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Radio was also a hot topic at the FMC Policy Summit. Newly appointed
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein spoke about the FCC’s duty
to preserve radio as a public resource, while Senator Russ Feingold
announced that he would be reintroducing his “Competition in
Radio and Concerts Industries Act” in the 108th Congress.
Commissioner
Adelstein’s speech at the FMC Policy Summit.
Senator
Feingold’s speech at the FMC Policy Summit:
Senator Feingold’s "Competition
in Radio and Concert Industries Act"
All this, and a panel as well! Undoubtedly the most-watched panel
of the Summit, moderator John Nichols started the discussion by inviting
anyone from Clear Channel or the National Association of Broadcasters
who might be in the audience to step forward and join the debate.
“We have a seat right here for you,” Nichols chimed, sweeping
his arm towards an empty chair at the table. When no one bounced up
to take his offer, Nichols began to direct questions about the state
of radio to panelists Peter DiCola, Lee Abrams from XM Radio, Pat
Aufderheide from American University, Cato Institute’s Adam Thierer,
and FCC senior economist George Williams. Perhaps the most compelling
performance came from XM’s Lee Abrams, who is often credited
with creating radio formats back in the 1970s. He likened the state
of radio now with what happened to AM radio in the 1970s as the richer
sounds of FM began to emerge, implying that commercial radio was killing
itself with its focus-group approach to programming. There are some
fantastic articles in the “Newsstream”
below that recount the content of the Policy Summit debates, so read
on… or watch the webcasts!
At the FCC
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Shortly after the study’s release, FMC representatives were invited
to the Federal Communications Commission to go over the findings with
various commissioners and the FCC’s Media Bureau Research Group.
The release of the report was of particular interest to Commissioner
Copps, who has been urging his colleagues at the FCC to conduct field
hearings – that’s when the five commissioners travel to
other cities to hear testimony from various citizens and experts –
before they consider lifting the cross-ownership caps that currently
stop one company from owning various media outlets in the same market.
“We are on the verge of dramatically altering our nation’s
media landscape without the kind of national dialogue and debate these
issues so clearly merit,” Copps said recently.
Because of Commissioner Copps’ insistence on a public debate
and the support and pressure of many organizations, the FCC has scheduled
one format field hearing, but have been participating in various media
forums around the country.
A number of the commissioners attended a forum on January 16, 2003
at Columbia Law School, where Jenny Toomey joined other representatives
from the TV and music communities on a panel on “Entertainment”.
Jenny urged the commissioners in attendance to view the effects of
the deregulation of radio as a cautionary tale about the potential
negative impact on citizens and consumers as they consider further deregulation.
Read about the forum here:
http://www.law.columbia.edu/news/PressReleases/media_forum.htm
The event was streamed live by Columbia and is still archived at
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/networks/advanced/kernochan-media-ownership/
There is one formal field hearings on the schedule:
February 27, 2003: Richmond, VA: Richmond Convention Center
10AM - 4PM
Jenny Toomey has been invited to testify at this hearing
And other media ownership forums are being planned in:
Los Angeles, CA
Austin, TX (in conjunction with SXSW)
Durham, NC
Seattle, WA
Public participation in these events is highly encouraged! This is
the best opportunity that citizens and musicians have to express their
opinions about media deregulation so check out the FCC website below,
which has a page dedicated to the re-examination of media ownership:
http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/
In the Public Eye
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The public’s attention on these issues has never been higher.
Not only have there been an unprecedented number of news stories about
media consolidation, but on January 14, 2003, Lou Dobbs’ Moneyline
show on CNN asked viewers this poll question:
"Should we be concerned that a small number of companies now
own or control almost all national network television, radio, newspaper
and web properties?"
Yes 97% 912 votes
No 3% 30 votes
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Total: 942 votes
Here’s what Lou said: “Now the results of our poll. Ninety-seven
percent of you said we should be concerned — that’s 97 percent —
that a small number of companies now own or control almost all national
network television, radio, newspaper, and web properties. Three percent
of you said we should not. This is the largest margin I’ve seen in
response to any question that we’ve ever polled.” (CNN transcript
accessed via Lexis-Nexis).
Wow. Even though this poll is far from scientific, numbers like this
indicate that the public is indeed concerned about the media ownership issues.
On Capitol Hill
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On January 25, the FMC received an invitation from the Senate Commerce
Committee to appear before the full committee hearing on media consolidation.
It sounded like the recent swirl of attention and press on the issue
had gotten the attention of the Commerce Committee’s Senator
John McCain. On January 30, FMC’s executive director Jenny Toomey
joined other testifiers Clear Channel CEO Lowry Mays, National Association
of Broadcasters’ Eddie Fritts, urban broadcaster Robert Short,
and Don Henley to debate the state of radio.
The hearing started with statements from Senator Russ Feingold and
Representative Howard Berman on the negative effects of radio consolidation.
Then each witness gave a five-minute oral statement. Jenny focused
on three key findings of our November 2002 study, reminding the senators
that radio has historically been regulated in order to preserve the
core elements of localism, competition and diversity.
Over the next two hours, Senator McCain spent the majority of his
time grilling Clear Channel’s Lowry Mays on everything from whether
they intended to buy more radio stations to the company’s policy
on payola. Senator Wyden (D-Or.) had further questions for Mays, in
particular about the reports of the increased use of “voice tracking”
instead of using local DJs on radio stations.
We have collected the majority of the press on the hearing in our
“Newsstream” section below.
While we’re not sure that Feingold’s bill – the “Competition
in Radio and Concert Industries Act” – will find much
support in a Republican Senate, we think that the hearing was a huge
step forward for general visibility on the issue. This will be very
important in the future as the FCC considers relaxing media regulation.
At this point it’s essential that citizens out there raise their
voices on the issue. In 1996, when the first Telecom Act was passed
that led to the state we’re in now, there was only a small core
of dedicated media activists raising concerns about the possible consequences
of deregulation. Now citizens must keep the pressure on and force
the Congress and the FCC to make decisions without at least hearing
from all sides. While it might not be a total victory, we’re
in better shape than before.