the 1996 Act a sole company could NOT own all the news in a town or local market--the local newspaper, radio and TV stations, and thus spread only one POV.
So as I understand it, the 1996 Telecom Act lifted regulations, or the Media was 'deregulated' (like the banks!) which then allowed Media outlets to consolidate (like the TBTF big banks) to the point today where a few giant monopolies exist and they control 90% of all US cable news and programming, newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations.
(Sinclair alone now owns about 1,200 radio stations in this country).
Re the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE of the 1940s, I've heard that it was to insure balance in radio news programming, based on the principle of the commons, the shared airwaves. Don't know if it applied to newsprint also. The doctrine was pre-TV.
What we have today is these top 5 media conglomerate owners who control almost ALL the content (aka The Wal-Marts of Media);
Comcast (NBC), Disney (ABC), Viacom (CBS?), Time Warner (CNN, HBO) and News Corp (FOX).
This brings up the serious issue of non-enforcement of the *SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT by Reagan also. IMO if the Left doesn't start making inroads into this Media domination by the corporate right wing somehow, especially the liar extremists, we can write on the internet all day long, preach to friends and families as much as we can, but until there is a major change to this structure I fear that in these efforts we might be:
~Singing on the mountain, but you won't be there to hear them~
as my father used to say.
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