IF GANNETT wanted to buy the St. Augustine Record and Jacksonville Times Union from MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS, Federal Communications Cross-Ownership Rules would apply. This is because GANNETT owns two TV stations (NBC and ABC affiliates in Jacksonville, d/b/a "FIRST COAST NEWS"). In order to approve the purchase, FCC would apparently have to find either the newspaper or TV properties in quo were "failing." See FCC excerpts (below the questions).
POP QUIZ (after reviewing FCC requirements, below the questions):
1. Do you see evidence to support or oppose a finding that the two newspapers are "failing?"
2. Do you agree with the naysayers who say that "print is dead," or trite memes and tropes to that effect?
3. How do the naysayers deal with the fact that Warren Buffett is buying newspapers?
4. Have they (naysayers) considered the Orange County Register, whose print operation apparently thrives by giving the people what they want -- NEWS!? Not fluff, but journalists doing what journalists are supposed to do -- holding institutions accountable, as the Founders intended in our First Amendment?
5. Can you imagine democracy in a world without newspapers? I can't.
6. Do you think increased market concentration by GANNETT (acquiring the Record and T-U) would necessarily hurt the cause of news-gathering?
7. Would you change your answer to question 6, if, hypothetically speaking, GANNETT's FIRST COAST NEWS' Anne Schindler (for 21 years the superb Editor of Folio Weekly), were to have suzerainty over the St. Augustine Record and Jacksonville Times-Union)? Can you imagine Anne Schindler empowering a staff boldly reporting on St. Johns County with the resources of GANNETT? How cool would that be?
Two full disclosures:
(A) I was a critic of GANNETT's FIRST COAST NEWS ab initio, fearing the joint operation of one TV news operation by NBC and ABC affiliates, allowed during the tatterdemalion administration of President George W. Bush and FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell (General Colin Powell's son, appointed to the job by Presidents Clinton and Bush); I filed a complaint with FCC about FCN's lousy news coverage (including breaking in on ABC and NBC evening entertainment programs to report an "airplane crash" at the airport in Brunswick, Georgia (the "crash" turned out to be a drill, giving a whole new sense to the John McCain mantra of "drill, baby, drill")!
(B) I have been a fan of Anne Schindler's years as Editor at Folio Weekly -- I have personal knowledge and saw first-hand how well Anne Schindler covered corruption and pollution in Northeast Florida, including here in St. Augustine and St. Johns county, helping make this a much better place!
8. IF YOU WERE AN FCC Commissioner for a day, would you be open to a GANNETT legal argument that would, in effect, adopt an "Anne Schindler rule?" I reckon I would consider it carefully, weighing the factors in FCC regulations (see below).
9. Would you change your answer to question 6 if you knew that Faux FOX News owner Rupert Murdoch is also buying newspapers, and is potentially interested in buying the LA Times and Chicago Tribune (see LA Times article, below)? How scary is that?
10. What do you reckon? (Quo vobis videtor?)
To inform debate, here is an excerpt from an FCC summary on Cross-Ownership Rules applicable to the Jacksonville and St. Augustine TV market:
- For markets smaller than the top 20 DMAs, the Commission adopted a presumption that it is inconsistent with the public interest for an entity to own newspaper/broadcast combinations and emphasized that it therefore is unlikely to approve such transactions. The Commission will reverse the negative presumption in two limited circumstances: when the proposed combination involves a failed or failing station or newspaper, or when the combination results in a new source of a significant amount of local news in a market. The Commission will require any applicant attempting to overcome the negative presumption to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the merged entity will increase the diversity of independent news outlets and increase competition among independent news sources in the relevant market.
- No matter which presumption applies, the Commission’s analysis of
the following four factors will inform its review of a proposed
combination: (1) the extent to which cross-ownership will serve to
increase the amount of local news disseminated through the affected
media outlets in the combination; (2) whether each affected media outlet
in the combination will exercise its own independent news judgment; (3)
the level of concentration in the DMA; and (4) the financial condition
of the newspaper or broadcast station, and if the newspaper or broadcast
station is in financial distress, the owner’s commitment to invest
significantly in newsroom operations.
http://transition.fcc.gov/ownership/rules.html
Ed's NOTE: A controversial effort to re-write FCC Cross-Ownership rules has been delayed pending studies of effects upon minority ownership of common corporate ownership of broadcast and newspaper outlets. The rules might be relaxed concerning the top 20 media markets (Jacksonville is only about the 48th or 50th).
No comments:
Post a Comment