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Safire on Kevin Martin, Media Consolidation
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:46:34 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Seth Johnson <seth.johnson () realmeasures dyndns org> Organization: Real Measures Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:29:08 -0500 To: <dan () danielberninger com>, <jays () panix com>, <wynkoop () wynn com> Cc: <rms () gnu org>, <dpreed () reed com>, <fred () eff org>, <bartow () law sc edu>, <ian.peter () ianpeter com>, <nb () cisto com>, <dave3 () dslprime com>, <jchester () pop mail rcn net>, <jec () law georgetown edu>, <markcooper () aol com>, <hfeld () mediaaccess org>, <phyland () cpsr org>, <sethf () sethf com>, <rmfxixB1 () bobf frankston com>, <sgannes () stanford edu>, <lgonze () panix com>, <robin () ipjustice org>, <ehensal () starpower net>, <hoofnagle () epic org>, <jkohlenberger () cox net>, <bruce () newnetworks com>, <love () cptech org>, <amccann () beyondthecommons com>, <mcgarty () mertongroup com>, <mitchell () interactionlaw com>, <odlyzko () dtc umn edu>, <npavlos1 () swarthmore edu>, <barlow () eff org>, <pozar () lns com>, <jeff () pulver com>, <racine () centerpd org>, <manon.ress () cptech org>, <pshapiro () his com>, <daniel.sieberg () turner com>, <dtype () dtype org>, <fred () metalab unc edu>, <dyfet () gnu org>, <petri () prometheusradio org>, <av () total-knowledge com>, <kevin () werbach com>, <serge () tux org>, <nancy.kranich () nyu edu>, <tompoe () amihost com>, <gbsohn () publicknowledge org>, <mnemonic () WELL COM>, <tomsong () earthlink net>, <leflaw () leflaw com>, <isen () isen com>, <compustretch () yahoo coom>, <heyjoe () bway net>, <Thor () bchands org>, <calabrese () newamerica net> Subject: Safire on Kevin Martin, Media Consolidation -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [IP] Kevin Martin to be next FCC Chair according toreports Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 12:56:35 -0500 From: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net> Reply-To: dave () farber net _______________ Original message _______________ Subject: Re: [IP] Kevin Martin to be next FCC Chair according to reports Author: Charles Andres <Charles.Andres () Sun COM> Date: 16th March 2005 12:7:28 PM William Safire on Kevin Martin The Great Media Gulp from the New York Times 5/23/2003 By WILLIAM SAFIRE WASHINGTON -- The future formation of American public opinion has fallen into the lap of an ambitious 36-year-old lawyer whose name you never heard. On June 2, after deliberations conducted behind closed doors, he will decide the fate of media large and small, print and broadcast. No other decision made in Washington will more directly affect how you will be informed, persuaded and entertained. His name is Kevin Martin. He and his wife, Catherine, now Vice President Dick Cheney's public affairs adviser, are the most puissant young "power couple" in the capital. He is one of three Republican members of the five-person Federal Communications Commission, and because he recently broke ranks with his chairman, Michael Powell (Colin's son), on a telecom controversy, this engaging North Carolinian has become the swing vote on the power play that has media moguls salivating. The F.C.C. proposal remains officially secret to avoid public comment but was forced into the open by the two commission Democrats. It would end the ban in most cities of cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers, allowing such companies as The New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to gobble up ever more electronic outlets. It would permit Viacom, Disney and AOL Time Warner to control TV stations with nearly half the national audience. In the largest cities, it would allow owners of "only" two TV stations to buy a third. We've already seen what happened when the F.C.C. allowed the monopolization of local radio: today three companies own half the stations in America, delivering a homogenized product that neglects local news coverage and dictates music sales. And the F.C.C. has abdicated enforcement of the "public interest" requirement in issuing licenses. Time was, broadcasters had to regularly reapply and show public-interest programming to earn continuance; now they mail the F.C.C. a postcard every eight years that nobody reads. Ah, but aren't viewers and readers now blessed with a whole new world of hot competition through cable and the Internet? That's the shucks-we're-no-monopolists line that Rupert Murdoch will take today in testimony before the pussycats of John McCain's Senate Commerce Committee. The answer is no. Many artists, consumers, musicians and journalists know that such protestations of cable and Internet competition by the huge dominators of content and communication are malarkey. The overwhelming amount of news and entertainment comes via broadcast and print. Putting those outlets in fewer and bigger hands profits the few at the cost of the many. Does that sound un-conservative? Not to me. The concentration of power -- political, corporate, media, cultural -- should be anathema to conservatives. The diffusion of power through local control, thereby encouraging individual participation, is the essence of federalism and the greatest expression of democracy. Why do we have more channels but fewer real choices today? Because the ownership of our means of communication is shrinking. Moguls glory in amalgamation, but more individuals than they realize resent the loss of local control and community identity. We opponents of megamergers and cross-ownership are afflicted with what sociologists call "pluralistic ignorance." Libertarians pop off from what we assume to be the fringes of the left and right wings, but do not yet realize that we outnumber the exponents of the new collectivist efficiency. That's why I march uncomfortably alongside CodePink Women for Peace and the National Rifle Association, between liberal Olympia Snowe and conservative Ted Stevens under the banner of "localism, competition and diversity of views." That's why, too, we resent the conflicted refusal of most networks, stations and their putative purchasers to report fully and in prime time on their owners' power grab scheduled for June 2. Must broadcasters of news act only on behalf of the powerful broadcast lobby? Are they not obligated, in the long-forgotten "public interest," to call to the attention of viewers and readers the arrogance of a regulatory commission that will not hold extended public hearings on the most controversial decision in its history? So much of our lives should not be in the hands of one swing-vote commissioner. Let's debate this out in the open, take polls, get the president on the record and turn up the heat. David Farber wrote:
------ Forwarded Message From: Robert Cannon <rcannon100 () yahoo com> Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:51:31 -0800 (PST) To: <dave () farber net> Subject: Kevin Martin to be next FCC Chair according to reports Source: Bush to Elevate FCC's Martin to Chairman Reuters Mar 16, 2005 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush plans to elevate Kevin Martin to head the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, a congressional source said on Wednesday. Martin was appointed as a FCC commissioner in 2001 and would replace outgoing Chairman Michael Powell who plans to leave the agency on Thursday. An announcement is expected later on Wednesday, said the source, who asked not to be named. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= Cybertelecom :: An educational non profit dedicated to raising awareness of and participation in federal initiatives that impact the Internet. www.cybertelecom.org cannon () cybertelecom org ------ End of Forwarded Message
------------------------------------------------ Charles Andres Market Development Engineering Sun Microsystems charles.andres () sun com Voice: (781) 442 0823 Fax: (781) 442 1520 ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Safire on Kevin Martin, Media Consolidation David Farber (Mar 16)