Re: WBUR takes on Clear Channel

["Mark Laurence" <mlaurence@mindspring.com>]

On 1 Apr 2003 at 7:38, Brian Vita wrote:

> > But it adds fuel to the arguments that mega-corporations
> > should not be allowed to grow even bigger.  If one corporation could
> > own half the radio stations in every major market in the country -
> > and the daily newspaper too - it would have one heck of an
> > overpowering voice.
> >
> How is this any different from the Clinton bias that CNN had or the
> Bush bias that Fox has?

How is it different?  You're focused on two cable networks which are 
relatively small parts of their corporate parents.  As Dan said, there's 
nothing intrinsically wrong with a corporation taking a point of view 
and expressing it on its channels.  

But what if they own most of the channels?  Choose your least favorite 
news organization and imagine that its owners bought the Globe, 
channels 4, 5, 25, 38, and 68, all the Infinity radio stations, all the 
Entercom stations, CNN, MSNBC, and half the other cable stations, 
DirecTV, many of the major magazines, and controlled half the 
websites where people normally go for news.  It might be a little tough 
to hear your point of view if you had to listen to this detested 
heavyweight corporation speaking with one voice on all those stations 
and outlets.

We're halfway there now.  The proposed FCC regulations could create a 
media world that looks just like that.

Mark Laurence