Media Deregulation – A Matter of Survival Or A Threat To Diversity?

Local television station autonomy is at the heart of one of the media ownership rules set to be changed soon by the Federal Communications Commission. Media companies say that: ‘costs are going up, audience is going down, competition is increasing. The only way to help is to relax the ownership rules, allowing networks to buy more stations and increase revenue.” Critics say too much media ownership concentrated in too few hands will destroy media diversity, particularly at the local level.