On Tuesday February 23rd, I made a point to listen to the FCC's Media Ownership Workshop webcast. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic about radio and what it use to be. I'm still not convinced that radio broadcasting today effectively serves the communities to which they are licensed to. The myth of the benefits of the marketplace ideology in broadcasting has not materialized for people of color. Exactly the opposite has happened. The 3% Radio ownership by African Americans has declined by 50% since 1998 that's half of what little was there in the beginning.
With the 2010 Quadrennial Regulatory Review – Review of the FCC Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and a democratic majority I was hoping for a vibrant discussion between the Broadcasters, the citizens of South Carolina, and the FCC. What I saw and heard during the webcast brought more questions to my mind about whether or not a "change will come." It's sad but I must say it going to take miracle to take the airwaves back but I won't give up in the fight.
The workshop was dominated by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association who artfully made the case for the status quo. Their collective presentations turned out to be a forum to talk/blow their own horns about the virtues of their individual "public service" , public interest, community involvements and the struggles they face to survive in the current economy. All of the panelists (South Carolina broadcasters) raved about how they are helping the community in this poor "economic" environment and why the present marketplace model of broadcasting must be preserved and is the justification for their present operations. The South Carolina broadcasters went as far as making a case for "consolidation" they called it "centralization." The reality is the economics of broadcasters/business is not really the concern of the FCC.
A more vibrant dialogue would have solicited and included the input from the audience, listeners, and consumers of the region. As the broadcasters bragged about their individual public service campaigns, the place where the workshop was taking place was nearly empty. So much for the evidence of the public service! I guess the South Carolina Broadcasters forgot to let people know about the FCC coming to town. It was amazing less than 50 people were in the venue and the majority of people in the place were FCC members, panelists and invited guests. It made me wonder about how much the people knew, care about their media and media ownership in the region.
On the bright side there were several good questions asked by the few audience members that were in attendance. One former news announcer stated quite frankly "You people (FCC and Broadcasters) broke it, now were going to have to fix it. We had a good working model of broadcasting in this country that got broken. As it went (broadcast licenses) to the auctions and bidding up the prices for stations. You broke it, now it's going to have to be figured out how to fit it."
In my opinion that was the most compelling statement of the workshop because there was no definitive reply to the statement. The truth was being told by the individual. The present regulations regarding media ownership by the FCC is skewed toward "white male ownership" of the media. Too few own too many. Diversity of ownership is just a word to be kicked around. Telecommunications policy will have to be changed in a way that the marketplace can be opened up for more people to participate. In this depressed economy a failing broadcast company could not be bought by a minority, person of color or female because the market value of the property is too high and banks are not giving loans on media properties. This economy has the broadcasters crying broke and lobbying for further relaxation of the local ownership limits at the same time. Now that is a mean game and greedy game. One South Carolina Broadcaster went as far as to imply, "It is the right of a Strong broadcaster to Dominate the Weak." How unjust can that be?
Somewhere down the line grass roots people have to be protected from the greedy corporations and greedy individuals. In 1926, Senator Davis quoted Secretary of Commerce Hoover stating,
"It is inconceivable that the American people will allow this new born system of communication (radio) to fall exclusively into the power of any individual, group, or combination. Great as the development of radio distribution has been we are probably only at the threshold of development of one of the most important human discoveries bearing on education, amusement, culture, and business communication. It cannot be thought that any single person or group shall ever have the right to determine what communication may be made to the American people. We cannot allow any single person or group to place themselves in the position where they can censor the material which shall be broadcast to the public. Wow, that's something to think about.
My most pressing concern is the battle for more African Americans to have the opportunity to be like an Alex Snipe a local African American broadcaster with multiple stations in a market. Mr. Snipe's success cannot be the only story because then his success is just another token and the African American community doesn't need more tokens we need more owners.
Finally, the people of color selected by the FCC made great presentations and were very diplomatic and not radical. With diplomacy there is a need for some radical thought. All the questions regarding people of color and minority media ownership programs were answered lukewarmly with the promise of further analysis. The battle for more people of color and minority gains in media must go through the courts because any measure to help the less fortunate attain the American Dream must endure rigorous legal challenges by those who have beliefs in the marketplace ideology and the first amendment. Remember some people in American believe it is their right to own EVERYTHING. It may be in the best interest for the local communities to ask for more Low Power FM stations. I am creating a podcast called Reggie on Radio look out for it.
Peace
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