Representatives of the Newspaper Association of America dropped by the ASNE Board of Directors meeting today, talking about media consolidation and newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. According to National Association of Hispanic Journalists President and Sun-Sentinel West Editor Rafael A. Olmeda, the NAA reps said the convergence shift should be an FCC decision, not a congressional vote. Olmeda had this to say:
"Congress watches out for people's interest. Sure, it's all politics sometimes, but we wouldn't want to push through the way people receive their news without their input. The FCC is appointed - it doesn't necessarily reflect the changes in the political landscape. I'm uncomfortable with ramming changes through FCC without people having a say in what happened."
- By TIFFANY HSU / ASNE Reporter
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If anything, the FCC should be loosening its ownership requirements. Those rules were written for a day when there was no 24-7 blogosphere.
Nowadays information is much more free, and not to mention that local newspapers, TV and radio stations are competing for ad dollars. This is putting a crunch on local affiliates, for whom consolidating may be the only way to stay alive.
Now, I have my professional reasons for arguing so -- I work for the NAB. But I would still say so even if I didn't. We're in a new media world, and if the FCC can't see that, it's a dinosaur.
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