By Kathleen Robbins
Media reform; you may have heard something about it lately, living close to the University of Illinois, Prof. Robert McChesney and all the local efforts that have been made to address this issue. But what does it really mean to most of us?
To answer that question, it is necessary to remember the role the free press has played in crafting the democracy that we enjoy today. The very first article in the Bill of Rights, those first ten amendments to our Constitution, guarantees freedom of the press. A concept we take for granted today, but which was radically different from the prevailing model in Europe at that time the Constitution was written.
Today, that same freedom of the press, which has helped preserve our democracy for over 200 years is being challenged as never before. Fewer than 10 massive, multinational conglomerates dominate our access to and/or produce our television, movies, music, radio, cable, publishing and Internet. This consolidation has happened over the past two decades with the consent and support of the federal government at the urging of these mega-corporations and their lobbyists, creating huge profits for a few stockholders while eliminating most local control and competition.
The result has been that we now have a virtually homogenous news media that gives us thousands of hours of coverage of Michael Jackson and the love life of Brad and Jen while providing scant coverage on local and international events that have potentially huge impact on our daily lives. We are told the media is giving the people what they want, but when ownership is consolidated in the hands of few people who answer only to their stockholders, the result is a media that takes the easy way out, doesn’t challenge the status quo and conforms to the corporate hierarchy for fear of dismissal.
We only have to look at organizations such as Enron and MCI WorldCom to see the results of unchecked corporate greed without some reasonable governmental constraint. More information on media consolidation can be found at www.freepress.net/content/ownership and to join a local organization that is addressing these issues at a grass roots level, contact Volunteers for a Better America here in Champaign/Urbana at [email protected].
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