April 2, 2007
Workshop on media ownership, April 16
On Monday, April 16, I’ll be hosting a workshop on media ownership at 6 pm at the Civic Media Center (1021 W. University Ave.). The workshop is in preparation for the upcoming FCC hearing on the subject in Tampa on April 30. The goal is to get lots of thoughtful and passionate citizens down to Tampa for the hearing to have their say. For more information, visit StopBigMedia.com.
For more information, come to the meeting on April 16, or email me, grbaker@ufl.edu. There will be a carpool for those interested in attending the hearing.
Please spread the word widely about this meeting.
Gavin — First, congratulations on the big win last night! And, second, I do some consulting with the NAB and would be interested in hearing your take on the idea that oftentimes consolidation actually leads to more diversity. In markets with tight ownership rules, stations air the most popular content in hopes of attracting the the select demographics that bring in the most advertising dollars. Unfortunately, this practice results in several stations airing remarkably homogeneous content. Conversely, studies have shown that stations in markets with less restrictive ownership regulations are able to focus less on attracting a few key advertising demographics and more on providing diverse content that appeals to a wider swath of the public.
Hi “Nabisco” — I commend you and your fellow NAB consultants for your thorough blog outreach on this issue. Any time there is a post on any blog about media ownership, within a day or two, NAB consultants show up to offer their spin. I actually think this is not an awful way to encourage public discourse. Similarly, I’m glad these posters identify themselves as being in the employ of NAB. In full disclosure, I am not in the employ of anyone, and speaking here solely as a citizen. Without responding with a huge post and extensive references, I will just shoot from the hip and say: I’ve lived most of my conscious life in a world of post-1996 consolidation, and my experience has been, broadcast media suck ass. The best broadcasters are always the non-commercial, public or community broadcasters. This experience does not suggest to me that the answer is more consolidation.
P.S. Go Gators!
Hey Gavin, a purely tangental point here- but maybe you guys (or is it FreePress?) will want to rethink that clever poster about homogenized milk good, homogenized media bad… check out .
It’s beginning to look like homogenized milk sucks too.
Nice site, and I’m looking forward to the FCC meetings & workshops.