May 14, 7:53 p.m.: Media consolidation

Get ready for a media landscape that squashes dissent and diversity.

By: Hank Kalet
   Today’s Tom Toles cartoon in The Washington Post neatly encapsulates an issue that could affect the way our democracy functions.
   The three-panel cartoon shows a man listening to a radio (then watching a television and then reading the paper) announcing proposed FCC rules allowing for greater consolidation of media — and all three are telling the same story in the same exact way.
   Get the point? We already have a limited news palette these days with the various personalities and the news and commentary they offer being rather shallow and narrowly focused. And the fictional fare on TV — the reality shows, talk shows, comedies and dramas — offer little variety.
   So, the FCC, under the guidance of Chairman Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, is ready to remove the few restrictions on ownership that exist — restrictions designed to ensure a multiplicity of voices.
   Here is a good piece from last year explaining the dangers of media consolidation and there is this from Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive. And from April, there is a story by journalist John Nichols and media critic Robert McChesney.
   You can help fight it by going to Media Reform, a new Web site founded by Mr. McChesney.