Just when you thought the government was the most hypocritical and unscrupulous institution in this country, the broadcast media comes along and proves they are far more deserving of this unbecoming description.
The most recent of the media travesties is that of Clear Channel Entertainment and its plan to gain complete domination over every airwave floating around this corporate-ruled country.
Clear Channel is putting a halt to the distribution of CDs recorded by bands during concerts and sold immediately afterwards, in the 130 venues it owns and every other live music venue. An article in Rolling Stone magazine said Clear Channel Entertainment has bought the patent from the technology's inventors and claims to own the exclusive right to sell instant concert CDs after shows. This not only affects the 130 venues Clear Channel owns, but also every live music venue.
You can do that sort of thing when you are the biggest concert promoter in the country.
In what has been a very successful endeavor to monopolize the industry, Clear Channel has gone from owning a reasonable and fair 44 radio stations six years ago to owning a ridiculous 1,239 stations today.
As this number grew, broadcast localism and diversity declined, leaving nothing but homogenized music and news in its place.
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What is homogenized music and news? It is radio stations refusing to play local music or give exposure to certain bands for no reason besides profit. It is "local" news coverage done from across the country. It is a single source having control over every piece of information dispersed to the public.
It is virtual censorship of those who do not adhere to the corporate agenda and criteria. It is one political or religious view crushing different perspectives and opinions. It is the mainstream, the status quo, the myopic majority and the impending possibility of a Clear Channel nation.
Usually when the media are in need of scolding or regulation, the Federal Communications Commission is called in as the omnipotent guardian of the sanctity of mass communications. So where is the FCC during all of this? Ideally, the FCC would see this problem and do its job by withholding such unbridled power from media corporations. Even un-ideally, it would turn a blind eye to the problem and just ignore how ethics and integrity in mass communications are dying.
Instead the FCC is condoning the practice of complete media consolidation by twisting regulations and laws to accommodate the million-dollar corporations. Six months ago, the FCC threw a brazen hissy fit over a split second of partial nudity, while Clear Channel is practically taking over the world. The phrase "skewed priorities" suddenly pops to mind.
If trends continue, one day the FCC will be just another Clear Channel affiliate.
Media consolidation is everywhere and is infiltrating every facet of news and entertainment. Universal and NBC just merged, and this can only mean one thing: one less competitor in the industry and, therefore, one less reason for news organizations to strive for excellency, fairness and public service.
Clear Channel has placed itself in a similar situation. There is no need for accurate news or diverse music. When you own 1,239 radio stations, the needs and desires of the individual seem less important than the quest for profit, or more accurately, 20 percent of the entire radio industry's revenues.
Artists are losing control of their art and the media are losing all credibility. Let's give a big hand to Clear Channel and the FCC for making it possible.
