Volume 2 Issue 84
June 2, 2003
Freedom of Blandness
The poor still get the shaft from the White House, the FCC destroys independent voices, and the Queen Celebrates 50 Years
Well, once again, the Bush administration has shown that it is beholden to the special interests and big money backers rather than to the American people, or even to the rights they hold dear. The latest freedom under attack is that of free speech, decimated today by the FCC's anticipated decision to loosen ownership restrictions that kept conglomerates from destroying TV and newspapers like they have radio. While the effects may at first only be minor to viewers, the rules create the potential for major media corporations to continue to consolidate, with market pressures taking over the public interest that users of the public airwaves are supposed to keep in mind.
Even media moguls like Ted Turner were against the rules, Turner saying that if they were in place when he was starting out, he could have never gotten into the business and created CNN and his other networks. Proponents of the rules (led by FCC chairman Michael Powell, son of Colin, who is angling for a cabinet post in Bush's second term) say that the Internet and wide spectrum of new channels makes the restrictions unreasonable, and that a wide variety of opinions are still available. But anyone who's flipped through the channels recently can tell you that's definitely not the case, and many are even owned by just a few companies. In fact, these rules will hurt most a group the Bush administration supposedly cares so much about: small businesses, who can no longer participate in the media game. As the administrations proponents have pointed out again and again, small businesses are the innovators in our society. They take risks, and often are the source of our biggest technological breakthroughs. In the media industry though, small business will soon be obsolete. Media giants will rule the airwaves, and only the well-tested will be allowed in, with little room for experimentation and creativity. Radio shows this, as Clear Channel and other companies have all but driven the "mom-and-pop" stations out of the market, and led to bland radio, in many cases with no local content (in small markets, most radio is now taped or simulcast from larger stations).
The radio experience also shows us the biggest danger of the rule change: that a small group of large corporations will stifle out any "renegade" opinions, and that only what the company likes goes out over the airwaves. As Tom Shales points out below, the recent Dixie Chicks "boycott" was not really a grass roots boycott, but rather was stoked along by Clear Channel, which helped by banishing them from playlists, and urging local stations to hold anti-Dixie Chick events. Even conservative groups like the NRA opposed these rules for these reasons. Trent Lott, John McCain, and other Republicans have announced that they will join forces with Democrats to try and get the rules overturned by Congress. Talk about strange bedfellows.
Yep, it all smacks of Orwell, just like 1984, or Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. But it really reminded me of Network, a 1976 film that predicted the same thing...as the crazy anchorman Howard Beale said:
"This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation; this tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers; this tube is the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, and woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people...when the 12th largest company in the world controls the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network!?"
Most disturbingly, this change today calls into question the entire rulemaking process. Rulemaking is supposed to have some sort of democratic aspect to it, mainly in allowing for public comment and public hearings. However, Powell refused to hold wide public hearings on the rule, and the FCC itself admitted that over 95% of the comments were against the rule changes. So the decision today was against the interests of small business, creates a frightening control of media in the hands of a few, and is anti-democratic. But then again, we were warned back in that 1976 film...
"You get up on your little 21 inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today. "
Maybe we should all take Howard Beale's advice, and stand up and say "We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore!" Unfortunately, with coverage tightly controlled by just a few media companies, it's unlikely anyone would hear you anymore.
News items on the FCC's decision -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3076-2003Jun2.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/02/business/02CND-RULE.html
Tom Shales' excellent piece on the whole issue, which really sums it up better than I could ever do -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1424-2003Jun1.html?nav=hptop_ts
Bush's plan for the destruction of government: Ron Brownstein explores the hottest "theory" of Bushanomics, and discovers that whether or not Bush intended to destroy the government through his tax cuts, that's exactly what's going to happen. Sadly, he also gives us a look at what would have happened had Clinton's policy of paying off the national debt gone forward, which is a much rosier economic picture -
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-outlook2jun02,1,2247919.column?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dpolitics
But you'll get a nice shiny letter from the IRS telling you you're screwed: Another study has shown that poor taxpayers will be worse off under the recent tax cuts -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/01/national/01TAX.html?pagewa nted=all&position
Whether the WMD? Are we ever going to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2083760/
Coming Soon...tracking you via IM? A new offshoot of instant messenger technology allows you to see where your "buddies" are. The potential is there for this to revolutionize the way people interact on the Internet. Right now it's only available in the inventor's program, but it won't be long probably before AOL or Microsoft buy it and incorporate it into their IM clients -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2083733/
Look Who's Running for President: A FEC Complaint has been filed against John Edwards over questionable campaign donations -
http://www.adn.com/24hour/politics/story/903381p-6290850c.html
Look Who's Running for President 2: Though I think they already did this a few months ago, The Washington Post is doing another series of profiles on the Democratic ballclub. First up is John Kerry -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59559-2003May30.html?nav=hptoc_p
Look Who's Running for President 3: Continuing the hate-fest, Howard Dean attacked John Kerry for copying parts of his speeches -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63085-2003May31.html
And in a switch, Dean is now for rolling back all of Bush's tax cuts -
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/21393032. html
The New York Times Magazine had an excellent story dealing with Dean's electiablity, and also the fact that his candidacy should serve as a warning to Democratic leaders that the rank and file are pissed -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/01/magazine/01DEAN.html?pagew anted=all&position=
Look Who's Running for President 4: George Will says Gephardt is the most viable Democratic Candidate, and that he's a lot stronger than most people think -
http://www.msnbc.com/news/920475.asp
Look Who's Getting a Free Pass to the Senate: The GOP has apparently decided not to mount a serious challenge to NY Senator Chuck Schumer -
http://www.nypost.com/commentary/149.htm
Look Who's Running for Town Council: A NJ man says that his arrest for possession of crack won't end his campaign for a town council seat -
http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/may/m053103l.htm
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
Little chance of winning the nomination...no chance of keeping my Senate seat...man, I may soon have to actually join a union instead of just going to rallies with them!
What happened to "the club"? Members of Congress lament that partisanship has grown to such personal levels, and debate if rule changes can help bring back some congeniality to the Congress -
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030602-123444-8498r.htm
When It Rains, It Pours: While the DC area and most of the East are drenched with above-normal rain, in the West drought is still a concern. Oh, and man, another sunny clear day in DC! Wow! Two of 'em in a 4 day period!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/05/30/state2103EDT0157.DTL
50 Years On: Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 50th anniversary of her Coronation today. The celebration was more low key than those during her 50th anniversary Jubilee last year -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-700570,00.html
Camilla Parker Bowles made her first appearance at an official Royal function -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/06/02/queen.coronation/ index.html
A British Editorial praises the Queen for her service -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-700138,00.html
Finally, a look back at the coronation day in 1953 -
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0602.h tml
Fire Away! The first baptism ever on the battleship USS New Jersey took place yesterday. Only in New Jersey -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/5994345.htm
In Passing... On a personal note, I'd like to just pay tribute to the Diamond Diner in Cherry Hill, NJ, which closed it's doors yesterday to make way for what every American suburb needs more of...a chain drug store. While there are literally dozens of other diners in that area where I grew up, the Diamond was where my parents first took me as a kid, and where we would hang out in high school and during our college breaks, and it was the only decent 24 hour diner in Cherry Hill proper. And so yet another little part of America passes away -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/5993236.htm
Have a great day!
