how far back does your memory go? if you're old enough, haven't you noticed some change from the days of edward r morrow to today, nationally? did you miss noting the gradual rightward shift of TV commentators and news readers during the late 1960s and '70s (which became a gallop in the 1980s) as they were being bombarded by more phone calls and mail from the far right than ever before? there was a time when they weren't afraid to laugh openly on the air at the nonsense pumped out the by far right; now their modern heirs report it like it was talmudic, and wouldn't dare rewrite a pentagon or white house press release.
the anti concentration argument, if that's what you mean by the concentration argument -- since no one in their right mind except mike powell types and the media moguls like murdoch offer a concentration argument -- has nothing to do with hearst and chandler style media. your choice of hearst and chandler is interesting; they are a good example of the kind of garbage media turns into as it consolidates.
during the era of hearst and chandler, there was a lot more to media than just hearst and chandler. when hearst and chandler lived, media was considerably more diversified across the country. there was such a thing as local media, too. as a new yorker, you had considerably greater choice in the 1950s, for example, than you do now. or will in few months. soon, we'll only have either a modern hearst or chandler. i much prefer the media of the hearst and chandler era to what exists now. don't you?
when i was in journalism school briefly in the 1960s, ben bagdikian had published his earliest studies of media monopoly in the USA. at that time there where about 67 companies owning the bulk of the media in the US, if memory serves me correctly. he's kept a track on media consolidation since then.
in 1984, he said there where 50 corps; in 1987, 26 corps. 23 owners in 1990, when, as he put it, the borders between different media began to blur. there were less than 20 owners in 1993. about ten in 1996.
today, bagdikian says there is a media cartel of six.
soon to be one, maybe two. doesn't this arithmetic bother you just a bit? how would you like it if the number of restaurants in new york city had diminished from a high of one hundred, let's say, to a total of six? wouldn't your choices be rather limited? does a choice between mcdonalds, burger king, taco bell, whimpy's, fat burger, and guido's pizza sound appealing?
the media has always been conservative, habitually tending to pull everything to the center, whether that "center" was center, right of center or very right of center. now, it's far right. that's the product of deregulation and consolidation. thank those two factors for rush limbo, o'reilly, and all those fellas and gals bringing us the US govt/CIA version of the "news" daily and nightly. thank those two for brain washing a society to the point where it thinks the murder and devastation in iraq is merely a ripple on the horizon of a brave new world.
i haven't mentioned the impact of consolidation on the internet because your question seemed more focused on print media. but consolidation will effect the internet. AOL want to be your only choice of provider. i have a cable modem. i wonder if AOL will own my cable modem source soon, and stop allowing me to get email from you and message boards like LBO. not to mention, in cooperation with the office of homeland security, ordering me to have closed circuit TV in all the rooms of my house if i want service so everything i do can be monitored by the security establishment.
i'm interested in who you believe will be the last one or two media owners in the US.
R
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 1:32 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] no dissent, we're Americans!
R wrote:
>delightful story. especially in light of today's FCC ruling. we have six
>companies controlling most of the mass media in the USA today. any bets
on
>how long it will take before six becomes one, and who that one will be?
When were things much better? I don't get the concentration argument - do we really prefer a media world run by Hearsts & Chandlers?
Doug ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk