A message for the FCC

Rick Kaempfer, a Chicago media critic, author of the novel $everance, and 20-year radio veteran thanks the FCC and media conglomerates for their roles in media consolidation.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• media
• consolidation
• FCC

[CBKillas]

One way they get you is from bleed over on your neighbors tv's and stereo's. Truly. Run some class a equipment, and say your on a 148 or the like. Please believe me, as I share the same hobby, and have been busted to.

[SmashCOBamberg]

fuck the fcc they raided my radio station yesterday...... I hate em cuz they don't just say "Please stop it", no, they'll fine me kinda heavy and I'm only 14...

[PsytranceMan777]

We could still find a way to independently record stuff, visible AND audible, like, get recording equipment, record stuff, and send it into circulation somehow...

[djjimi]

Pretty soon they'll own the Net too.... and then it will all be over.

[llamaman9898]

fuck the fcc

[amishrick]

Hamlin, are you really arguing that because the media giants buy everything it proves they are giving the people what they want? Every opinion poll says otherwise. And the fact that the country rose up to stop this last time the FCC tried to shove it through (people from both sides of the political spectrum), despite the fact that the story wasn't covered in the mainstream media (and it wasn't--I was watching for it), proves that the country doesn't want this. That's democracy.

[amishrick]

Hamlin, this isn't a free market issue. The airwaves are not owned by the companies, they are owned by the public. We don't have to allow the free market to create a virtual monopoly of information, and we won't. When an informed electorate is at stake, giving control of the information flow to five or six corporations is a terrible idea. Nobody (who isn't paid by them) seriously believes this is a good idea. If it passes it will be against the overwhelming will of the people. That's a fact.

[Hamlin06]

amishrick, you say you don't want consolidation. Does that mean you want competition? And isn't the essence of competition letting market run its natural course? Isn't the essence of competition letting the successful networks (i.e. the ones giving consumers what they want) grow and prosper?

Maybe Rick lost his job because he wasn't giving the consumer what they wanted. Or maybe he was just catering to a small club of Chicago listeners.

[amishrick]

By the way, I am from a big city, but I've been studying this subject for ten years. There may be more outlets out there than ever before, but the base information still comes from the same place--the newsroom run by professional journalists. As long as those keep getting cut (and they are by these corporate giants), any "additional" information we receive is purely illusionary. 24 hours news means nothing if we only get four stories, over and over again.

[amishrick]

Hamlin, I realize it's not 1950. It's also not 1890, and it's not OK for five companies to own everything. You say they would otherwise not be kept afloat, but you offer no evidence at all. The average newspaper still makes 20% profit, the average TV station makes 30% profit, and the average radio station; 40%. Why do the corporations want to buy them? Charity? To help local communities?