Radio Revolutionaries
I had a great afternoon yesterday doing a little graphic design for a lecture here at CEU (I'd nearly forgotten how I love doing this sort of work). Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project is coming to talk about his organization and the threat of media consolidation in the US. I immediately thought of a poster from the Paris '68 student riots that would be perfect (at least I thought so). A few hours in Photoshop and here's the result (I helped with the title as well):
All comments welcome! What do think? (I hope I got the French right . . . ack!).
Comments
great!: )
hey mischa,
the poster is really nice now that i took a closer look at it, knowing that you're the designer.
yeah, and its great to see you here again and have a chat over a cup of coffee.
have a good time,
lusine from CEU: )
media consolidation is a myth
Hi! The poster looks good but it is factually wrong (i don't blame you). It is a huge myth that the media is too consolidated. I work with the National Association of Broadcasters and I can tell you that there are more than 11,000 radio stations controlled by over 3,000 owners. There are over 1200 TV stations controlled by at least 333 owners. This doesn't even include the almost 3,000 public radio stations.
The "threat" of media consolidation is all huff and puff. Take a look at this post offered up by Technology Liberation Front for more information.
Keep up the great design work!
Regards,
LocalRadio
The "Myth" and the "Facts"
Hi LocalRadio,
Thanks for the comment! It's great that someone working "with" the NAB is jumping into the fray (as it were). Now, whether or not you think the media is "too consolidated" is a matter of great contestation. A lot of very smart people are arguing about it and I don't think there are any facts in the poster you can point to and say are wrong. So, I guess I'm a little disheartened that you've entered the debate with such a statement.
One factual question is, "has there been consolidation in US media ownership?"; and the fact is that there has been an extraordinary amount of it. FCC rulings in the 90s preceding the 96 Telecommunications Act repeatedly relaxed ownership rules in radio and television. To many, this is a continuation of a deregulatory vogue begun in the Carter and Reagan eras. The case involving the Prometheus Radio Project, about which we'll be hearing on Tuesday, involved an FCC ruling in 2003 that would have dramatically reduced multiple television ownership limits, expanded national household market share access, changed the definition of radio markets and introduced new cross media ownership rules. It's a very interesting issue. I hope to see a big turn out and am looking forward to hearing various sides argue about the impact of consolidation on the diversity of media voices, freedom of speech and democratic society.
I also took a moment to look at the post you linked to. While the website appears to be a collection of the incumbent industries' usual suspects, it's nevertheless interesting to hear Clear Channel Chairman Mays make the argument that consolidation of media ownership leads to greater programming diversity.
Thanks again for taking the time to jump in.
mischa
Mays' point of view
Hi mischa,
Sorry, I did not mean to say your poster was factually wrong. It's just that the overall concept of media consolidation has been largely over exaggerated. It is an interesting debate that has many prongs to it.
Mays argues that when you have many many owners in a market, radio stations tend to imitate each other as they compete for the same advertising dollars but when you have fewer owners, the radio stations are still competing with each other but there is an incentive to create a variety of formats to attract new audiences that attract new advertisers. Hope that makes sense.
Have a great weekend!
LocalRadio
Exxon Against Global Warming?
Isn't the NAB saying that media consolidation is a myth kinda like when Exxon Mobil said that global warming is a myth? Didn't the NAB actually support and lobby for congress to repeal the creation of low power radio stations for the public by the FCC. They said that allowing the little guys to have radio stations would interfer with the big commercial fullpower guys frequency. To bad the FCC commisioned a study proving that claim as bogus. I urge anyone not to take my word for it and especially not the NAB's word for it and do some research yourself. Media consolidation is most definitly real. Check out the 1996 Telecommunications Act passed by clinton.
makes $en$e, not sense
makes sense to somebody on the corporate media payroll, too bad it's not true! the researchers at public interest media group future of music coalition exposed the myth of "format diversity" years ago:
http://www.futureofmusic.org/research/fmcrebuttal.cfm
that was waaaay back in 2002, and you hacks haven't come up with a new tune yet?
AND it's not like mr mays is a neutral bystander. he's made MILLIONS OF DOLLARS through mergers that were only possible in the orgy of consolidation that swept the radio industry after passage of the telecommuncations act of 1996!
how much are they paying you to spread these tired old lies, localradio?
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