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By Celia Wexler and Timothy Karr
Mediachannel.org
NEW YORK, October 22, 2004 -- Tonight, millions of television viewers, many of them in heavily contested swing-voter states, will be able to switch their sets to "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media," a Sinclair Broadcast Group program that purports to examine the influence of documentaries and other media on the elections.
The "news special" represents a compromise by Sinclair, after a firestorm of protest sidelined the company's earlier plan to air "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," an "aggressively anti-Kerry documentary" over its 62 local stations.
But it remains to be seen whether Sinclair's final program, which will contain scenes from "Stolen Honor," will be any less partisan. Questions linger as to why Sinclair -- a company that was granted free access to our public airwaves -- would think it could get away with such a crass, last-ditch effort to influence the outcome of a national election.
The fact is, very few rules remain in place to hold a broadcaster to even-handed service of the public. The government's policies have encouraged media concentration and empowered media conglomerates, which return the favor by trying to sway public opinion towards candidates that are more amenable to their political and business agenda.
Sinclair's action should be a wake-up call for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. Powell has the power to tell broadcasters that misuse of our public airwaves comes at a cost. He has the power to hold Big Media companies to the notion that -- in the words of the Supreme Court -- it is the "right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount." But Powell's actions over the last four years tell a different story: about a media regulator who wants his lasting legacy to be the concentration of American media into the hands of a few corporations.
The Digital Giveaway
Now, new technology has enabled big media to become even stronger. The transition to digital television lets Sinclair, and every other over-the-air broadcaster, create up to six channels of programming in the broadcast space it now uses to broadcast one. That means that Sinclair's 62 stations will have the programming power of 372 channels.
This huge giveaway to broadcasters is worth tens of billions of dollars. If companies like Sinclair get their wish, and regulators require cable companies to carry all their new digital programs, their reach and influence will become even more powerful.
Now is the time for the public to act. Before the FCC votes to give broadcasters another billion-dollar giveaway, they must require them to uphold meaningful and measurable public interest obligations so the public isn't fed a steady diet of Sinclair style "news." With clearer limitations in place, broadcasters that fail to serve their audiences will put renewal of their licenses at risk. The FCC must act on our behalf now; our democracy is at stake.
-- Celia Wexler is the Vice President for Advocacy at Common Cause. Timothy Karr is the Executive Director of MediaChannel.org.
© MediaChannel.org, 2004. All rights reserved.
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