FCC: Media Ownership Studies – Martin dnies their existence.

Just prior to the rowdy New Year’s weekend, the Federal Communications Commission quietly released 88 studies and documents pertaining to media consolidation and ownership, dating back to 2002.

Included in the material–which was posted late last Friday on the FCC Web site and can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/additional.html> — are a pair of unreleased studies from 2003 and 2004 that came to light in September, during current FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s re-nomination hearing.

The later study, which was cited by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) during the hearings–and which Martin has repeatedly denied any prior knowledge of–shows that locally owned TV stations provide considerably more local news than those owned by large media conglomerates.

In that 2004 study, FCC researchers Keith Brown and Peter Alexander, using a database of local TV news stories in top U.S. markets developed by University of Delaware professor Danilo Yanich, found that local stations delivered roughly five-and-a-half minutes more local news every half-hour.

Those results, however, clash with statements from both Martin and his predecessor, FCC Chairman Michael Powell, in favor of increasing the amount of local TV stations a media company can own. More recently, Martin has backed off somewhat from those statements, saying he’s keeping “an open mind.”

The big question is: Who ordered the studies stifled? Powell has repeatedly echoed Martin’s denials of knowledge of their existence. Other studies found on the site include “Localism and Welfare,” which suggests that locally owned stations will likely have lower production quality; and “The Scarcity Rationale for Regulating Traditional Broadcasting: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed,” by ultra-conservative antitrust attorney and George Mason University professor John W. Berresford.

by Tom Siebert
Courtesy of http://www.mediapost.com

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