Newspaper advertising is a joke, local TV stations are struggling to get ads of their own, journalists are losing their jobs and media executives are calling 25 percent revenue declines an improvement. It sounds like something might be amiss in the U.S. media world.
But don’t take our word for it if you’re the Federal Communications Commission, and you’re about to revisit media ownership regulations and see if they need some changing. See this item from Inside Radio:
[FCC] Chairman Julius Genachowski hires internet entrepreneur and journalist Steven Waldman to lead an agency-wide initiative assessing the state of media. Waldman will lead a team to conduct what’s promised to be an “open, fact-finding process” looking at how the economy is impacting media outlets and make recommendations for policy changes.
Waldman is the co-founder and former editor of the religious website Beliefnet.com, which was bought by News Corp. in 2007. … Waldman will join the Office of Strategic Planning and serve as senior advisor to the chairman. Genachowski says, “A strong consensus has developed that we’re at a pivotal moment in the history of the media and communications, because of game-changing new technologies as well as the economic downturn.”
Yes, but let’s make extra-special sure and hire a guy to check out the situation. You never know; everything might be just fine and we’re making a big mistake saying otherwise.
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4 comments so far
Just what policy options are available?
What’s growing in this downturn? Small blogs and team operations that scratch together little revenue.
What’s shrinking? Large media operations.
And where’s the FCC’s focus? Large media organizations that are interested keeping the start-up rabble in check.
Unless that FCC has a plan that will actually help neighborhood bloggers, small start-ups, neighborhood newspapers that continue to ink …
If the FCC acts to help one sector, another will suffer.
- Posted by redstone[...] Read story here. [...]
- Posted by Media to receive a “house call” from the FCC « Texas State MoJo (Mobile Journalists)I think as more and more epapers come on line and offer better and better news stories
and vide in color, that local people will start to leave the internet for local news. And
I think if e-newspapers offer to give subscribers free e-readers, for a 2 year subscription, people will go for it. Now, the newspaper industry is caught in between
the old technology of paper and the new technology of e-readers. But, e-readers are
coming down in price and are becoming more useful. It’s just a matter of time.
burke
- Posted by dr burkeAnd I think, the e-newspaper e-readers will have to offer wifi or 3G built in. or maybe freeing up some of that spectrum just vacated by tv, will allow news papers to broadcast their news media over the airwaves and have the e-newspaper with an FM receiver to receive news and maybe even a radio station, with flat panel speakers built in. If the Government supports wide spread usage for e-newspapers transmission, then this will encourage news media to switch over to the new technology.
- Posted by dr burke