One thing though is that cable networks are subject to subscription. I think that may limit how people watch. Billionaires can spend as much money as they like on cable, I believe they will not have the same reach as with over the air networks.
One thing though is that cable networks are subject to subscription. I think that may limit how people watch. Billionaires can spend as much money as they like on cable, I believe they will not have the same reach as with over the air networks.
We are way beyond curtailing any news source’s ability to be regulated. The FCC stopped enforcing licensing of the airwaves under the Reagan Administration. Cable news was never subject to federal licensing, but only state and local. As long as they had one pathetic local access channel for “diverse programming” they could do anything they like. Radio and tv moved to satellite band, which is not regulated by the government. Social media movd to internet, which is thoroughly unregulated. Feds stopped enforcing the rules against monopolies under Reagan Administration as well, which forbade any one television, radio or newspaper company from buying up any other media in their region, to ensure a diversity of information and a healthy competition for advertising dollars and the news. In the 80s and 90s, when I worked in the daily newspaper industry, Gannett and other big newspapers began buying up all the little community weeklies that were their competitors, as well as small radio stations and local television stations. By the 2000s, there was no diversity. Then internet came and now entities like Breitbart, Alex Jones, Newsmax, and Christian Broadcasting and of course Fox/Murdoch are basically beyond the reach of any regulatory authority. What’s needed are new laws, but that will never happen in such a divided country and Congress.
All very informative, I know of Gannett as my local paper was bought out by them. They merged it in with a few other smaller local papers. They rebranded it the Journal News. It lost its local flavor and any value. We canceled our subscription. It’s frustrating because the city I lived in is the third largest in the state. How could we not have our own paper!
To your larger point, until advise and consent by the Senate of appointments to the FCC is removed we will have a highly politicized FCC. Case in point the recent appointment of Ms. Sohn. Obviously it can be just as politicized by who the president is, so I’m not sure what the solution is.
I don’t think there is a solution that will restore vibrant independent community newspapers in our lifetime. That is because the Gannett company has destroyed the value of the individual companies, sold off the properties that once housed the papers, sold off the individual printing press apparatus (because they consolidated regionally) and even sold off the archived black and white photographs for the silver nitrate. They destroyed the history of every community paper they bought, and ypu would have to start from scratch. For better or worse, the glue that held communities together is dissolved. I think substack and other independent forums are the future, but it’s a very poor substitute for thousands of community newspapers reporting and publishing locally.
It’s a crime. My local paper was the Herald Statesman. It’s steeped in local history. It was filled with local stories and information. For a time it published the coming weeks school lunch menu. My brother subscribes to the paper version of The New York Times. Nothing compares to feel of paper.
One thing though is that cable networks are subject to subscription. I think that may limit how people watch. Billionaires can spend as much money as they like on cable, I believe they will not have the same reach as with over the air networks.
We are way beyond curtailing any news source’s ability to be regulated. The FCC stopped enforcing licensing of the airwaves under the Reagan Administration. Cable news was never subject to federal licensing, but only state and local. As long as they had one pathetic local access channel for “diverse programming” they could do anything they like. Radio and tv moved to satellite band, which is not regulated by the government. Social media movd to internet, which is thoroughly unregulated. Feds stopped enforcing the rules against monopolies under Reagan Administration as well, which forbade any one television, radio or newspaper company from buying up any other media in their region, to ensure a diversity of information and a healthy competition for advertising dollars and the news. In the 80s and 90s, when I worked in the daily newspaper industry, Gannett and other big newspapers began buying up all the little community weeklies that were their competitors, as well as small radio stations and local television stations. By the 2000s, there was no diversity. Then internet came and now entities like Breitbart, Alex Jones, Newsmax, and Christian Broadcasting and of course Fox/Murdoch are basically beyond the reach of any regulatory authority. What’s needed are new laws, but that will never happen in such a divided country and Congress.
All very informative, I know of Gannett as my local paper was bought out by them. They merged it in with a few other smaller local papers. They rebranded it the Journal News. It lost its local flavor and any value. We canceled our subscription. It’s frustrating because the city I lived in is the third largest in the state. How could we not have our own paper!
To your larger point, until advise and consent by the Senate of appointments to the FCC is removed we will have a highly politicized FCC. Case in point the recent appointment of Ms. Sohn. Obviously it can be just as politicized by who the president is, so I’m not sure what the solution is.
I don’t think there is a solution that will restore vibrant independent community newspapers in our lifetime. That is because the Gannett company has destroyed the value of the individual companies, sold off the properties that once housed the papers, sold off the individual printing press apparatus (because they consolidated regionally) and even sold off the archived black and white photographs for the silver nitrate. They destroyed the history of every community paper they bought, and ypu would have to start from scratch. For better or worse, the glue that held communities together is dissolved. I think substack and other independent forums are the future, but it’s a very poor substitute for thousands of community newspapers reporting and publishing locally.
It’s a crime. My local paper was the Herald Statesman. It’s steeped in local history. It was filled with local stories and information. For a time it published the coming weeks school lunch menu. My brother subscribes to the paper version of The New York Times. Nothing compares to feel of paper.
FOX & NewsMax are cable. FOX has more viewers than the over the air networks