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Least Common Denominator Broadcasting

Reading Jeff Jarvis's shocking truth about the FCC,

The latest big fine by the FCC against a TV network... was brought about by a mere three people who actually composed letters of complaint. Yes, just three people.

I am in awe that a few well-organized people can have such a huge effect. This is both a wonderful feature of our political system (in that it enables even the smallest-minority opinions to have significant impact) and a fighteningly efficient weapon in an environment in which just six mega-corporations control nearly all U.S. broadcast media:

In general, consolidation of established media causes political and economic incentives for what those media broadcast to be least-common-demoninator material suitable for all.

As a result, fairness in media comes up regularly in conversation these days; for example, last night David Letterman and Howard Stern were discussing how Clear Channel wields extraordinary power in owning over 1200 radio stations, causing Stern to take himself Siruisly.

I no longer believe that blogs are just a complement to established media. Blogs enable much more, representing an ever-widening range of voices as broadcast's range of voices continues to narrow, creating an emergent democracy of intertwingled ideas and interactions.

November 19, 2004 at 04:20 PM in Blame the Media |

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