I was delighted today to get to talk a little with my Congressman, David Price, who has been a strong supporter of Network Neutrality and an opponent of Media Concentration.
David is highly clued on the issues and has made common cause with some unusual, for him, bedfellows such are the National Rifle Association and Focus on the Family. Not so unusual as voices that would be marginalized or excluded by the lack of Network Neutrality or the further increase of Media Ownership Concentration are at all parts of the political spectrum.
Paul, I work with the NAB on the media ownership issue and would argue that updating the media ownership rules would create a more competitive media marketplace by providing more choices, more local news and greater innovations for consumers.
Today we have a remarkable amount of media options; online, satellite, cable and with this growth, the ability of local broadcasters is being threatened. Alone, they cannot compete against the internet, cable and satellite giants for the advertising dollars they need to survive. Our local communities deserve and need local programming that comes from people who live in these communities. They deserve to have these decades-old rules updated to permit ownership combinations in local markets that will allow local broadcast stations to compete and continue providing free, local broadcast service.
Chris,
I think we’re both arguing for more local ownership and less media ownership concentration — aren’t we? The most recent rule changes — specifically those made under Michael Powell — have moved us toward concentration and away from local content.