FCC Loosening Regulations Surrounding Cross-ownership of Media

Here’s a preview of an interview with Bernie Sanders on the subject of media consolidation.  Our Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in the process of further loosening the regulations that surround cross-ownership of various media types: radio stations, television channels, newspapers, etc.   The result will be tighter control and greater homogeneity of everything we Americans hear, see and read. 

Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, this is bad news, as it means more corporate manipulation of messages and thus even more limited coverage of things Americans really want to hear about.  For example, we’re interested in jobs, right?  GE is a huge outsourcer of jobs to China and dozens of other countries, and it’s a good bet they don’t want too much news on the subject of this element of their business practices.  This FCC ruling, if passed, will enable GE, which already has hundreds of media holdings, to expand its influence even further.  

It will also make the currently feeble discussion of the US Supreme Court decision “Citizens United” to disappear almost completely. 

In Sanders’ words, “It makes a bad situation worse.”