Media Consolidation Plan Blocked

Media consolidation is, in my view, an enormously bad thing for America. Having just a few companies own the vast majority of the media causes a sameness to the news that is most disquieting. Think about it for a minute. If you turn on any of the cable news programs, from Hannity & Colmes, to Live with Dan Abrams, to The Situation Room, and you will see--for the most part--the same set of stories on any given day. Countdown with Keith Olbermann is alone in the wilderness, in reporting and commenting on news stories the others aren't touching. Kudos to Keith for carving out a niche.

But somehow, all the newspapers and news shows seem to agree on what is newsworthy, and very little else gets through. That, I believe, is because most of the media is controlled by 5 or 6 companies. And now the FCC is trying to loosen the rules to allow even more consolidation. Thankfully, a couple more Democratic Senators have found their cojones, and are trying to stop it.

[Excerpt]

US senators threaten to block media ownership plan

Two U.S. senators on Wednesday threatened to introduce bipartisan legislation that would block the U.S. Federal Communication Commission from acting quickly to ease rules governing media ownership.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, and Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, said they were studying possible legislation that would nullify an FCC decision expected on Dec. 18.

"I would expect those of us who feel strongly that this is the wrong approach will attempt to find a way to block an action that we think is inappropriate," Dorgan told reporters at a press conference.

Read the whole story at: Reuters.com