Media

Ah, just another step closer to corporate ownership of all media that you consume on a daily basis. Maybe you heard that the Federal Communications Commission—that media watchdog set in place to protect Goliaths from stomping Davids into extinction—voted this week to loosen rules that restrict ownership of broadcast stations.

One company can now own a combination of stations that reaches up to 45 percent of the national audience. Media conglomerates now will be able to own more stations in the same market. And with the elimination of cross-ownership limits in markets with nine or more TV stations, a company can own both a TV station and a newspaper serving the same market.

Reno, Carson City and Incline Village have 14 TV stations (and 31 radio stations), according to a searchable database of media ownership run by The Center for Public Integrity, www.openairwaves.org.

What does this mean for you? Well, profit is always the bottom line. With most mergers, TV, radio and newspaper staffs end up being cut or growing smaller by attrition. Quality suffers. So does honest reporting. If a company owned both a prominent daily Reno newspaper and, say, KRNV Channel 4, you’d be likely to see more mutual back-rubbing and no internal accountability. On the other hand, look at the wonderful potential for advertising synergy and political action.

Also, as media giants suck up the little local companies, you can expect less local content and more national content—syndicated stories, photos and film footage is cheaper. Ever pay attention to how many wire stories (Associated Press, Knight Ridder, USA Today) run in the Reno Gazette-Journal, which is owned by the newspaper giant Gannett?

Less diversity of opinion. More political correctness. Marketability makes right.