What you won't read about in Florence

This is the first in-depth, non-feature article I have written. It published in the Dec. 6, 2007, News & Press. The deadline on the article was last Thursday/Friday, so if there have been new developments, please post links to them in comments.

Dec. 18, FCC might hand freedom of information to big corporations
What you won't hear or read about in Florence, and why

Mark your calendars. Tuesday, Dec. 11 is the last day the Federal Communications Commission is accepting public comment on proposed changes to the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban.

The 32-year-old prohibition's repeal would allow a newspaper to own one television station or one radio station "but only in the very largest markets and subject to certain criteria and limitations."

Specifically, the proposed changes would lift the ban on newspaper/broadcast combinations in all but the smallest markets, those with 3 or fewer full-power commercial or non-commercial television stations. Nielsen Media Research, which defines television market areas, could not say how many markets have 3 or fewer stations.

In our area, the Myrtle Beach-Florence Designated Market Area, there are 7 broadcast stations (WBTW, WHMC, WUNU, WJPM, WPDE, WWMB and WFXB). Nielsen Media Research considers this a small market, but the proposed changes would classify it as a medium-sized market. This classification would allow a company to own both a television station and a newspaper. Of course, Media General already does.

Locally, Media General, a corporate conglomerate of 23 network-affiliated stations, 22 daily newspapers, more than 100 weekly newspapers and more than 75 online enterprises, owns both WBTW News 13 and the (Florence) Morning News.

The company acquired WBTW from Spartan Communications in March 2000 and the Morning News from Thomson Corp. in August 2000. While this sounds contrary to the current FCC cross-ownership ban, a loophole in the regulations allows television owners to buy hometown newspapers and operate them until the station's license comes up for renewal. In 2004, Media General has a temporary waiver pending until WBTW's license comes up for renewal again in 2012 or until the FCC lifts the ban.

According to the FCC, anyone can file an informal objection pursuant to Section 73.3587 of the Rules prior to Commission action on the application. However, companies are not required to notify the public in any way of waiver requests.

The FCC would not give out the details of the procedure companies must follow to obtain such waivers. The News & Press was given a copy of Media General's waiver request submitted with its 2004 license renewal application. In this application, Media General submits "that the benefits from its continued operation of WBTW(TV) far outweigh any potential harms from its common ownership of the station with the Morning News." In the 23-page document, the company gives examples of how the two have worked together, but it does not document why the same information gathered could not have been provided if the two entities were separate.

Media General cites competition from cable, The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, The (Columbia, SC) State, The Charlotte Observer, The Fayetteville Observer, as well as weekly papers, such as the News & Press, but fails to mention its ownership of three other weekly newspapers in the area.

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin cites competition from cable, satellite and the Internet as a major reason to update the cross-ownership rules; however, the proposed channges don't regulate this competition or even mention it specifically. Martin also contends that the change will save newspapers from financial distress. According to the University of Southern California's Online Journalism Review, combined news operations don't save money on staff or operations nor do revenues increase significantly.

Additionally, the FCC claims that this revision of the rules won't significantly increase local concentration or harm diversity. Women, 51 percent of the U.S. population, own 5.87 percent of full-power commercial television stations or 80 stations in the country. Meanwhile, African Americans, 13 percent of the population, only own 0.6 percent of stations, just 8 stations. Is that diversity?

"An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy," but can big corporations deliver? As far as quality is concerned, Media General points to the five awards earned by WBTW in 2004, but doesn't mention success on the print side. On the other hand, a study by Free Press found that cross ownership reduced news output by about 25 percent in markets where a cross-owned station leads other stations in the market, such as this one.

Why does this matter?
When one company owns large chunks of the media landscape, it can influence opinion on a much wider scale as well as decide what information people don't need to hear or read. People worry about the government censoring free speech, but what about companies? With the kind of megaphone and financial power wielded by corporations, items that would otherwise be newsworthy slide through the cracks. Case in point: there were more than 70 layoffs across Media General's Publishing Division in August, five of which affected the Carolina Publishing Group (which includes Florence Morning News, Lake City News & Post, Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise and Hemingway Observer). These layoffs were not front-page news like every other layoff event in the Pee Dee.

What else isn't being printed?

In a New York Times op-ed column last month, Martin wrote that, "as watchdog and informer of the citizenry, newspapers are crucial to our democracy." True, but who will keep an eye on the watchdog?

Have an opinion?
The time to tell the FCC is now. Go online to www.fcc.gov or mail comments to Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554.Label comments MB Docket No. 06-121. Comments should be filed by Dec. 11. The FCC will vote on this rule Dec. 18.

In the interest of full disclosure, Lisa Chalian-Rock, a former Media General employee, owns shares of Media General stock.