"Big Surprise:" Big Media Sells Sex

A report out this week states what I've thought for long was obvious: media consolidation has led to increased indecency in the media. The Center for Creative Voices in Media has made its report available online.

The report also suggests that political speech is being repressed by broadcasters who are afraid of government reprisal. (Well, the government may be okay with that.)

There is a certain irony in this situation: As the Los Angeles Times points out, the politicians who are now trying to crack down on mediated indecency are the same ones who voted to relax broadcast regulations that allowed the current conditions to exist. Guess what, guys? You want a free market, you get one -- warts and all.

(Warning: Rant ahead)

I would be fine with broadcast deregulation if -- and only if -- these businesses were not so heavily subsidized by the government. Think of it: by assigning broadcasters a piece of the electromagnetic spectrum, the government is creating a monopolistic business environment for broadcasters. All broadcasters had to do in return was to operate in the public necessity, interest, and convenience. For years that meant that network news divisions and local TV and radio news departments were not expected to make money -- that was the cost of doing business. So, broadcasters lost lots of money on news, but more than made up for it by raking in an obscene amount of money on entertainment. And that was when Congress was concerned about anti-trust issues and didn't allow big mergers.

All that went out the window during the Reagan administration, when FCC chair Mark Fowler dismissed radio and television as appliances of no more significance to the public sphere than toasters. Then, the Clinton administration and the Gingrich Congress practically allowed the National Association of Broadcasters to write the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The result: more shock jocks, less local programming; less news, more entertainment. And -- lest we forget -- Janet Jackson's breast, brought to you by MTV by way of CBS. (That's called synergy -- both networks are owned by Viacom.)

So, I have little sympathy for those who cry about obscenity on television. You wanted broadcast deregulation, you got it. Stop whining.

And, one more thing, broadcasters. Get off the public dole. You want to do business in an unfettered market, fine. But stop taking corporate welfare and start paying fair market value for use of the public's airwaves. If cell phone companies have to pay for it, why shouldn't you? After all, television is nothing more than a toaster.

Related: Columbia Journalism Review's "Who Owns What"