New Study Debunks U.S. 'Media Monopoly' Fears

[quaoar]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050504/dcw068.html?.v=7

Wednesday May 4, 2:09 pm ET

Media Ownership Guidelines Seen as Increasingly Irrelevant in Changing Marketplace; Most Worries About Control and Content Issues Based on Anecdotes, Not Facts

WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- It is a myth that U.S. media ownership is over concentrated today and that programming choices available to American consumers are shrinking or somehow have been impaired, according to a new 50- page report authored by MIT media consultant Benjamin M. Compaine, who is the author of 12 major books on media ownership and Internet topics. In the midst of ongoing court, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and public debate about media consolidation, the study finds that fears about media control and program choices are not based on fact and also reflect increasingly outdated notions of how consumers use media at a point in time when millions are shifting their attention to the Internet and other digital technologies.

How far off base are concerns about television, radio and newspaper ownership?

Key facts included in the Compaine report include the following: The three traditional broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- have seen their prime time ratings slide by about two thirds from the 1970s to date. In the largest U.S. markets, there typically are 15 or more separate owners of radio stations -- and most of even the smallest markets in the U.S. have more radio competition than local TV and newspapers combined. A review of 17 studies finds that chain-owned newspapers have greater latitude in determining editorial policy than do editors at family-controlled newspapers. Current measures for media ownership do not take into account the massive shift over the last 10 years in which two-thirds of Americans use the Internet for information gathering purposes, including viewing television and reading newspaper content.

Prepared for the New Millennium Research Council, the Compaine report is entitled "The Media Monopoly Myth: How New Competition is Expanding Our Sources of Information and Entertainment." The study concludes: "The empirical reality does not support the notion that in the United States, in 2004, consumers of content via the media have fewer choices of sources or fewer choices than have been available to them in the past. Just the opposite is true for television: viewers have more choices from more sources than at any time in the history of the medium ... There is no support for the contention that media ownership by chains or conglomerates leads to any consistent pattern of lowered standards, content, or performance when compared with media owned by families or small companies."

[DrDebug]

1. Yawn. Debunked already.

http://www.corporations.org/media/

[KoKo]

2. uuuhh...huhhh...Prepared for the "New Millenium Research Council."

Prepared by whom and I'll bet a Google of NMRC...would come up with some interesting info. ;-).

[BR_Parkway]

3. New Millennium Research Council - same group trying to say

that city wide wi-fi is NOT in the corp stockholders public's interest

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_Millennium_Research_Council

So glad that they've "proven" that putting all the media in one small group's hands is just fine, I'm really surprised that they didn't provide documentation of that famed librul bias.

[DrDebug]

10. Part of Issue Dynamics

Issue Dynamics, Inc. (IDI) is a Washington-based consulting firm that organizes PR campaigns on behalf of clients. A number of nongovernmental organizations have been partnered with corporations by IDI to advocate in support of causes that the companies support. NGOs that have participated in these arrangements have included the Gray Panthers and the New York Public Interest Research Group. IDI characterizes these arrangements as "win-win solutions" that bring together broad coalitions in support of the shared agendas of each of the organizations. However, its work has angered some consumer activists, who say IDI often does not disclose whom it is working for and argue that IDI's work amounts to astroturf PR.

In April 2005, IDI "launched a formal Blogger Relations Practice and a companion website, http:// www.bloggerrelations.com." The firm's press release stated, "IDI Blogger Relations clients have already included Fortune 50 corporations, national trade associations, advocacy groups and political party committees." The practice includes a "robust blog monitoring service," to provide clients with "actionable intelligence." Other practice offerings include "Blogger Outreach," Blog Building" (a "simple, inexpensive way to build a community for messaging, rapid response & brand protection, fundraising, analysis, and a host of other activities"), "Training" and "Blog Advertising." <1><2>

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Issue_Dynamics%2C_Inc.

[blm]

26. But, the content was not significantly different to the smaller stations

owned by private individuals who are also rightwing fascists or theocrats. (Sinclair, Regency, Pax, et al)

[Barrett808]

4. Bagdikian: The New Media Monopoly

I'll stick with Ben Bagdikian. He has a new edition of his classic study, The Media Monopoly:

Ben H. Bagdikian
The New Media Monopoly
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807061875/qid=1115233125/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0519122-6946209

[Octafish]

30. What Barrett808 Said.

Ben Bagdikian warned us.

[leveymg]

5. This is an industry front group press release. Dubious LBN. Dubious

"research". Dubious conclusions.

LOL - :puffpiece: :rofl: :spray:

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. I don't know who these guys are but...

"New Millennium Research Council"

Take a look at their "Links of Interest"

http://www.newmillenniumresearch.org/links.html

Yeah, AEI, Heritage Foundation, Cato...

Adam Smith Institute
American Enterprise Institute
Brookings Institution
Cascade Policy Institute
Cato Institute
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Citizens for a Sound Economy
Columbia Center for Tele-Information
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Criterion Economics
Discovery Institute
Economic Policy Institute
Fraser Institute
Heartland Institute
Heritage Foundation
Hudson Institute
Institute for Policy Innovation
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Manhattan Institute
Media Center at New York Law School
National Center for Policy Analysis
New America Foundation
Pacific Research Institute
Pew Internet & American Life Project
Progress & Freedom Foundation
Progressive Policy Institute
Reason Foundation
Telecommunications Policy Research Conference
TeleNomic Research LLC
Urban Institute

[punpirate]

23. Quite apart from the usual right-wing...

... think tanks, I find mention of the Discovery Institute very interesting. They're the ones now pushing, very hard, intelligent design, and one of their big funders is Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr.

They're slick and sneaky:

http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5582&abbr=cs_

http://www.geocities.com/lclane2/DI.html

[UpInArms]

24. did you go to the "internship" link?

who is this?

Matt Bennett
Intern Coordinator, NMRC
919 18th Street, N.W. 10th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006

http://www.third-way.com/about/

Matt Bennett: Mr. Bennett served for three years as Director of Communications and Public Affairs at AGS. He took a leave from AGS in 2004 to serve as Director of Communications for the Clark for President Campaign. Mr. Bennett came to AGS after four years in the White House, where he served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, where he was the leading White House liaison to governors. Before that, Mr. Bennett served as Trip Director and Assistant Counsel to the Vice President, where he managed Vice President Gore’s traveling staff. Mr. Bennett has served as a staff member in the Dukakis, Clinton ’92 and Clinton ’96 campaigns. He is an attorney and was a litigation associate for the Washington office of King & Spalding from 1993-1997.

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=119&subid=157&contentid=251918

Guns and Values
Democrats can grab the center of the gun debate. But it's framing the message that matters.
By Jim Kessler, Matt Bennett, and Jonathan Cowan


Table of Contents

Democrats need a new way to frame the gun debate, because the old approaches to gun issues are proven losers.

Conventional wisdom now offers two basic choices: The first counsels Democrats to avoid mentioning gun issues altogether. Al Gore applied this "hope" strategy in the 2000 general election -- hoping the National Rifle Association and George W. Bush wouldn't define him as anti-gun -- and it failed miserably, with Gore carrying only 35 percent of gun owners.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41113-2004Nov10.html

New Group to Tout Democrats' Centrist Values
Third Way Plans to Focus On 'Moderate Majority'

As Democrats continue to stagger from last week's election losses, a group of veteran political and policy operatives has started an advocacy group aimed at using moderate Senate Democrats as the front line in a campaign to give the party a more centrist profile.

Third Way is the latest in a series of organizations aimed at rescuing Democrats from the perception that they have lost touch with middle-class voters, particularly in the heartland states that voted overwhelmingly for President Bush over Sen. John F. Kerry.

The group, which has enlisted the support of several senators from Bush-backing "red states," hopes to rebut the notion that Democrats represent an outdated brand of liberalism by producing new policy proposals designed to create a "moderate majority," said Matt Bennett, Third Way's communications director.

[Paulie]

7. Is PRNEWSWIRE a legit "News" site?

This isn't CNN/NBC/FOX/ABC/ETC where Public Relations is news.

Just a thought.

[liveoaktx]

20. Only when the news releases are recycled the next day into "news"

by MSM

[Ian David]

25. PR Newswire is a Press Release distribution service

You pay them, and they spam / "Fax-Blast" your press release for you.

[burn the bush]

8. can u say faux news? study not needed

Bill O'lielly is a TERRORIST

[Amy6627]

9. New Millennium Research Council

The New Millennium Research Council is an 'independent' (a word used frequently in their self-description) offshoot of Issue Dynamics. Issue Dynamics, according to their website, is a "consulting firm specializing in public affairs and relationship-management services". The company's list of clients is lengthy, but their largest contributers are SBC and Verizon. The group has been under heavy fire recently for working behind the scenes seemingly in support of grass-roots activism, while really serving the call of their most powerful telco clients.

http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/33214

[DrDebug]

12. Cool and SBC == Yahoo

So the circle is round again. It's their own press release to show that they are not one and the smae company.

[Amy6627]

29. Don't ya love it! n/t

[DrDebug]

31. Yeah, I love it!

It takes some searching, but it's always a circle nowadays

Those companies used to be pyramids, but nowadays it's one big huge circle where A connects to B and B is owned for 68.4% by C and C is an affliate of A. And we are right back where we started

[UCLA Dem]

11. Maybe the whole damn thing needs to be overhauled then!

News is different that it was 30 years ago, it is more sensationalized and about ratings, not just the news.

This study seems very narrow to me. I think its the last line that gives it away: "when compared with media owned by families or small companies." To me, this study entirely misses the point. The problem lies with the whole industry. Just comparing one lousy facet of it to another is futile.

The whole media needs a revamp. If you compare mediocre to slightly less mediocre its not much of a comparison and everyone is still, well, mediocre.

[killbotfactory]

13. What's that sound i hear?

Oh, it's just the smoke being blown up my ass.

[UCLA Dem]

14. excellent, yet slightly disturbing visual.

[Bozita]

15. March, 2003: Polls show Americans fear Saddam's WMD

Anyone see a difference?

[punpirate]

16. NMRC run by...

... Issue Dynamics, which is a lobbyist for cable and telecoms:

"WHAT'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN: There is an underground network of political deceit in the telecom and broadband industry. It is made up of very well funded fake or co-opted consumer groups, research firms, lobbying groups, politicians and PR firms throughout the United States, that are out to fool reporters, state legislatures, Congress, the public and the FCC that they represent the public interest.

"In fact, many are controlled or have been co-opted through Sam Simon's Issue Dynamics and paid for by SBC, Verizon, BellSouth and the other phone and cable companies. The list of groups includes APT, TRAC, USIIA, Connect USA, New Millennium Research Council, League of United Latin American Citizens, and American Association of People With Disabilities, among others

"It is also the co-opting of well known groups, from the Gray Panthers and NAACP, to the National Council of La Raza, the National Consumer League and others.

"Call it skunk works, (the phone companies' black-ops groups) call it astroturf, call it sock puppets, a consortium of groups -- run by Issue Dynamics, includes a host of non-profits directly funded by the Bell companies to wield undo influence --not in your favor. These groups do the bidding of the Bell companies, not you."

http://www.newnetworks.com/prskunkworks101.html

[JRob]

17. More of the same...

To help corp America label it as more ill-founded "conspiracy" theory

[librechik]

18. this is part of the attack on efforts to revive The Fairness Doctrine

Pukkke's main claim: that it is outmoded in today's "diverse" media market.

Sure, there are 600 channels on cable TV. All owned by 5 or 6 people.

smoke and mirrors indeed

[Jackpine Radical]

19. For it second act, the NMRC is going to prove

the literal truth of the King James version of the Bible.

[Bozita]

21. I laughed when I first read that -- Now I'm not so sure

[Selatius]

22. It sounds like a PR hackjob at best

The methods employed in this study need to be revealed for all to see. Then we can assess whether it was a rigged study or not, but based on information other posters here have put up regarding Issue Dynamics, a PR firm for corporate entities, things don't look so good.

[americanstranger]

27. Number One rebuttal to this horseshit:

From Ted Turner:

"Loss of localism also undercuts the public-service mission of the media, and this can have dangerous consequences. In early 2002, when a freight train derailed near Minot, N.D., releasing a cloud of anhydrous ammonia over the town, police tried to call local radio stations, six of which are owned by radio mammoth Clear Channel Communications. According to news reports, it took them over an hour to reach anyone--no one was answering the Clear Channel phone. By the next day, 300 people had been hospitalized, many partially blinded by the ammonia. Pets and livestock died. And Clear Channel continued beaming its signal from headquarters in San Antonio, Texas--some 1,600 miles away.

http://web.takebackthemedia.com/geeklog/public_html/article.php?story=20040722195223693

-as

[valis]

28. LOL... it does not take a genius to realize that all the news channels

are identical, identically biased, and identically stupid.

[Guaranteed]

32. Buuuuulllshiiiiiiitt..... Buuuulllshiiiiiitt....nt

[Voltaire99]

33. The silver lining in media congealment...

...is that the giants are losing audiences, very steadily and very surely.

That's cold comfort, since it still does nothing to provide us with a functional, let alone vigorous, press.

Nor is it very hopeful that the flight from traditional news media isn't exactly onto blogs, alternative news media, or foreign papers of excellence like the Guardian and the Independent of London, but into the arms of DVDs, porn and video games; entertainment isn't going to restore or sustain democratic society. So let's not confuse our getting stupider and lazier with liberation.

Yet still I rejoice with every reader and viewer the traditional news media lose. The project now must be to reduce the reach and authority of these corrupt dinosaurs, and help elbow them into their tarpits. The fewer citizens beguiled by the likes of NBC's Brian Williams and The New York Times' Judith Miller, the better.

Some recent stats:
http://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2005/04/media_meltdown.html

[d_b]

34. The people don't want truth in their media

Everything is fair and balanced. Nothing to see here. Going back to the bride with cold feet.

[halobeam]

35. As I understand it, Sam Simon is connected with

Telecommunications Research and Action Center. They were part of the Microsoft defense team when Microsoft was brought to court for monopolizing the market.

[sam sarrha]

36. who "OWNS" these fools, Faux news..???