Media deregulation hurts the public

THE RECENT DECISION by the federal appeals court in Washington to relax television-ownership limitations has been praised by the networks and condemned by consumer advocates. Once again in the continuing debate about media deregulation, the lines have been drawn between corporate power and the public interest. Once again, the public interest has lost.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act was designed to be a means by which media companies could remain competitive in a new multimedia economy dominated by large conglomerates. But if the 1996 act encouraged economic competitiveness across industries, it clearly stifled competition in the marketplace of ideas by reducing the number of owners and thus consolidating, centralizing and homogenizing formerly disparate voices.

The effects have been most dramatic in the radio industry, which was all but completely deregulated in 1996. Since then, there have been more than 10,000 radio station transactions worth more than $100 billion, and there are now at least 1,100 fewer station owners than before -- a decline of nearly 30 percent in six years.