My friend and fellow blog critic Paul Levinson (author of Digital McLuhan, The Soft Edge and more recently The Plot to Save Socrates) has an interesting but seemingly counterintuitive post on his blog, Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress. Under the title “FCC Ends Longstanding Ban on Cross-Ownership: Good!” Levinson applauds the FCC’s recent decision to lift cross ownership rules and allow media companies to own both print and broadcast news outlets in the same market.
To summarize Levinson’s argument, the multiplicity of alternate information sources on the internet make cross ownership of traditional media insignificant, and, FCC regulation of media ownership is contrary to the First Amendment anyway.
For those of us who are disciples of Laurence Lessig and Robert McChesney, Levinson’s stance is problematic. Clearly, the current concentration of media ownership is a contributing factor to our dysfunctional political system and quite possibly a key enabler in the attempt of the Republican Party to overthrow the Constitution. What good do First Amendment protections do us if the administration blatantly ignores the Constitution anyway? I also worry about the continuing independence of the Internet. The debate over net neutrality underlines fears that major corporations may find ways to choke off the freedom of the Internet, rendering internet diversity moot.
While accepting the validity of these concerns, I think that Levinson has identified a significant trend in our information culture. Whether due to media concentration, "Beltway Village" mentality, or just plain laziness, it is apparent that the majority of our Fourth Estate have not been doing their job. As Stephen Colbert pointed out in his now famous White House Correspondence Dinner address, journalism is not stenography. Political blogs have moved in to fill a void left by the non-functioning traditional media press. At the very least, blog writers have required the traditional media to justify their ineptitude.
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Article comments
1 - Paul Levinson
Brief response, Bob -
You ask, "What good do First Amendment protections do us if the administration blatantly ignores the Constitution anyway?"
The answer, without a First Amendment, we lose the ability to criticize the government without fear of arrest and worse. It is the First Amendment that keeps from going too far down the path of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
That's why I think the FCC's systematic trampling of it is so dangerous...
2 - Mick Russom
Ron Paul, the NEXT POTUS.
If Ron Paul isnt elected, prepare for your money to be worthless and your standard of living to drop like rock.