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After the FCC decided this summer that media companies would be allowed to reach 45% of the national TV audience, many lawmakers objected, insisting that the cap should remain at 35%. This week, Congress and the White House agreed on a compromise ownership limit of 39%. But many critics, including Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester, say the deal is a giveaway, not a compromise. He makes his case for Bob.
Britain's royal family is once again embroiled in scandal, but this time the Queen's subjects haven't been able to get the lurid details from their mainstream media. Under the UK's strict libel laws, British media are barred from reporting on the allegations that Prince Charles was caught in a sexual act with a male aide. Meanwhile, charges of censorship are being levied by continental European newspapers, because their British distributors are allegedly keeping them off newsstands. Brooke reviews the scandal with David Hooper, a London solicitor specializing in libel law.
In 1949, the FCC decided that broadcasters, as "public trustees," were responsible for airing a diversity of viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance. But in the deregulatory sweep of the 80s, the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" went out the door. What would happen if the Doctrine were revived today? Brooke speculates with Mark Fowler, who chaired the FCC under Reagan, and Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who wants the Doctrine back.
After a long week analyzing the media, Bob and Brooke like to unwind with a good sing-a-long. They wanted to share this one about the FCC, with you.
Television viewers have a right to know when an ad is an ad. Schemes like product placement make the lines between a character trait and a paid advertisement very blurry. The organization Commercial Alert wants to clear it up. Brooke talks with co-founder Gary Ruskin about their latest petition. He wants the audience to know when they are being persuaded and he says it is a matter of obeying the law.
This week, the FCC signaled that it would approve a controversial merger between the nation's largest Spanish language TV network and the biggest Spanish language radio network. Critics have argued the deal will allow Univision to unfairly dominate the Spanish language media market. But Univision counters that there really isn't any such thing as a separate Spanish language market, because Latinos regularly channel-hop between English and Spanish stations. Political Scientist Louis DeSipio has studied the media diet of Latinos in the U.S., and tells Bob that the truth is somewhere in between.
Big Media. In this age of media consolidation, the phrase carries an ominous, minor-key ring. But does big media necessarily mean bad media? Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson doesn't think so. He tells Brooke why he thinks the FCC's recent relaxation of media ownership rules won't spell the end of choice for media consumers.
If the media see themselves as under siege from all sides - government, Wall Street, and public opinion - there is relief at least on one front: the courts. At least in the arena of libel and privacy law, the pressure seems to be steadily easing. According to a new study by the Media Law Resource Center -- news media outlets successfully defended themselves against libel and privacy charges four out of five times in 2002. Bob speaks with Sandra Baron, the Executive Director of the MLRC.
