The FCC, Media Diversity, and Media Consolidation
Feature Story by Katherine Musbach - 6/27/2007
As the Federal Communications Commission considers rules governing media ownership, civil rights advocates have seized the opportunity to talk about how changes to ownership rules, particularly those that would permit increased media consolidation, affects media diversity.
"The way media covers these issues is directly related to who the reporters and producers and anchors are, to who is employed in the media. Who is employed by media is directly related to who owns the media," said Mark Lloyd, chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil Right's (LCCR) Media/Telecommunications Taskforce and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
An October 2006 study by the media reform group Free Press found that although racial minorities make up one-third of the U.S. population, they own only about three percent of television stations. Free Press released a study on June 7 that concluded that minorities own less than seven percent of radio stations. According to Free Press, women, who make up 51 percent of the U.S. population, own less than 5 percent of U.S. TV stations and just 6 percent of U.S. full-power radio stations.
The Leadership Conference and the Communications Workers of America commissioned a study in 2006 concluding that minorities and women lost ground in the period of rapid media consolidation over the past decade.
Lloyd said these disparities in ownership and employment in turn cause a disparity in the coverage of issues important to women and minorities.
A lack of diversity in media ownership and employment also can contribute to the limited availability of roles for minority actors, especially roles that allow these actors to represent more than the common stereotypes.
"Show runners like Shonda Rhimes on Grey's Anatomy point to the importance of providing opportunities for talented minority writers which helps to foster the creation of roles depicting Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities as fully formed, non-stereotypical characters," said Karen Narasaki, president and CEO of the Asian American Justice Center, in a December 2006 press release announcing the results of a study of Asian American representation in TV roles.
The Free Press studies indicate that relaxing media consolidation laws could further reduce the opportunities available to talented minorities in the telecommunications industry. According to the 2006 study, minority station owners often own just a single station and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of media consolidation.
Media consolidation also can have an adverse effect on local political participation and emergency preparedness. Federico Subervi, a journalism professor at Texas State University, says that locally-owned stations are particularly important to minority and non-English-speaking communities. He said that the consolidation of major networks reduces the amount of information available about local issues and over-emphasizes profits at the expense of public service.
This reduction in local information inhibits residents' ability to be informed about local issues in favor of national stories that are more likely to generate revenue for the owner. Dr. Subervi said that this problem is especially severe for non-English speaking populations, as there are even fewer media outlets serving their needs.
These issues and other concerns related to media diversity will be the subject of a national town hall on June 29 at 12 noon ET, to be held in DC and Denver. Speakers include FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, LCCR President Wade Henderson, and others. Talk show host Tavis Smiley will moderate the discussion.
