Long before the blue glow flickered for the first time in American living rooms, the FCC’s protection of public airwaves anticipated television’s popular and profit-making appeal. Ownership caps and restrictions on TV and print outlets aimed to ensure diversity, competition, and local programming.
Then came the ’90s, and with them a mass consolidation of mass communications. And in a few markets where a single owner already controlled both print and TV outlets, a media experiment was born. It’s called convergence, and in markets where it’s working, “collaborative” news coverage where print reporters do double duty for TV, is replacing competition. As the FCC prepares for a landmark vote on June 2, convergence could become practice.
Guests:
Marvin Kalb, senior fellow, Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
Forrest Carr, news director, WFLA-TV, Tampa, Florida