Fighting media monopoly

IT TOOK A concerted effort from media activists led by the Center for Digital Democracy and Media Alliance, but the Federal Communications Commission will actually hold a public hearing in San Francisco April 26 on plans to further deregulate the nation's major news media. In a sense, San Francisco is the perfect place for one of the very few public hearings on a plan that FCC chair Michael Powell is hatching almost entirely in secret. This liberal city, with its historic traditions of freewheeling publications and open debate, is now under the thumb of a handful of out-of-town media corporations that don't come close to reflecting the political, cultural, and artistic diversity of the community.

There's one major daily paper in town, owned by New York-based Hearst Corp. Texas-based Clear Channel Communications owns 10 radio stations in the Bay Area, including two at the top of the FM market. The cable-TV system has gone from Viacom to AT&T to Comcast, none of which have any local roots. There's not one major locally owned broadcast TV station. And if Powell gets his way, the situation will just get worse: Hearst, for example, could buy a couple of TV and radio stations. Clear Channel could buy the San Francisco Chronicle or the San Francisco Examiner. Ultimately, almost all of the major media outlets in town could be owned by one or two giant, locally unaccountable companies that have no interest in or concerns about the San Francisco community – except as a place from which to extract money.

It won't be easy to derail this steamroller. As Camille T. Taiara points out on page 14, Powell has a 3-2 majority on the commission, and whatever he puts forward will probably be approved. The ultimate battle may be in Congress, where activists will be pushing to overturn the FCC decision and write strong federal laws against accelerating media megamergers and cross-ownership.

But the only way that will happen is if there's a clear, extensive, and powerful record of opposition to any relaxation of the ownership regulations. That means everyone who cares about the quality of media coverage in the country ought to testify at the FCC hearing Saturday, April 26, in the main rotunda at San Francisco City Hall, starting at 10 a.m. It may be the last chance to prevent a truly bad media situation from quickly becoming a whole lot worse – and to lay the groundwork for real reform.