Media Consolidation Will Mean More Right Wing Propaganda
As we quickly drift from a true democracy toward a more authoritarian regime under Trump and the Republicans, we can also expect that the regime will try to exert more and more control over the media. It was already starting from a strong base with the large right wing propaganda machine that was already in place before Trump. Trump has continued to exert his own pressure with his withering criticism of certain media outlets, excluding the press from certain events, and having governmental agencies withhold information. And, in the last few days, we have seen the Steve Bannon attacks on the “Bezos-Amazon-Washington Post” in its well-documented reporting on Roy Moore..
In the last few days, we have seen even greater attempts to essentially bring the media under right wing control. The Justice Department’s apparent interest in blocking the ATT-Time Warner merger unless ATT divests itself of CNN or DirectTV is certainly just a blatant attempt to punish a network that the President despises. If the DOJ actually sued to block the merger it would not only be an unprecedented break from nearly 30 years of antitrust policy but it would also be an unprecedented politicization of the antitrust process.
A DOJ suit would look even worse in light of the ruling from the FCC yesterday that essentially opened the door to media consolidation. The FCC ended the longstanding policy against media cross-ownership that prohibited a single company from owning a newspaper, TV, and radio station in the same city or town. The idea behind the rule, of course, is to make sure that one owner cannot effectively control the local news. In addition to revoking the rule, the Commission also allowed a single company to own two of the top four stations in an area, doubling the current number allowed now.
This ruling clears the way for the merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media in order to create a local media behemoth. Sinclair will now reach nearly three quarters of American viewers, nearly double the limit that was currently allowed, which required another questionable rule change from the FCC that included UHF channels. Sinclair is part of the right wing propaganda machine and forces local stations to run commentary from former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn nine times a week.
It should also be of concern that the Koch Brothers are also entering the media industry with a $500 million investment in Meredith Corporation which is attempting to buy Time Inc. In addition, we have seen the erosion of the independence of the news portion of the Wall Street Journal under the ownership of the criminal Rupert Murdoch and the editorial control of Gerard Baker at the same time the always insane editorial side of the paper literally drives experienced reporters out of the company.
As I have written before, Trump’s infatuation with authoritarians provides him with a template of how he would like the press to work, in particular, Putin’s concept of a “managed media”. That concept would also include the oligarchic control of the traditional media outlets that reflect the opinions of a governing plutocracy.
