The Telecommunications Act of 1996 Killed Local Radio

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Feb 22, 2022 — The actual result of the Act was a flurry of mergers and acquisitions as corporate media giants bought out small, local broadcasters.

He was trying to work with them, in my opinion, to try and get them off his back.

Seems like it was widely popular with both parties. Weird


https://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll025.xml

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1042/vote_104_2_00008.htm?congress=104&session=2&vote=00008

The act dramatically reduced FCC regulations on cross-ownership. It allowed giant corporations to acquire thousands of media outlets across the country, increasing their monopoly on the flow of information in the U.S.

...including his horrendous tax cuts. As quickly as humanly possible. Impeach supreme court jsutices (if they can), impeach and remove trump (if they can) and all officials who have enabled him.

If they can.

All those billionaires that sucked up to Trump, need to pay the price.

They should be taxed at a much higher rate than nothing. Which is what a lot of them pay. Nothing.

They were quick to betray our country and to get behind the tyrant.

We have all seen their true colors.

And it looks like things are falling apart overall.

Constant mergers and acquisitions to get bigger and more dominate (by billionaires and corporate dreck) that can only get by with a bribe or “favor” to the Orange One.

Reagan started the de-regulation of the media in the 80s. Before that media companies were limited to ownership of 5 TV stations and 5 radio stations. One company could not own a TV and radio station in the same market, unless grandfathered. If a company owned a newspaper in a market it could not own a radio or TV station, again unless grandfathered. This limited one companies influence and encouraged a diversity of ideas.

This should have been a priority from the start.

Republicans played this masterfully to fully erode the media

--starting in the 1980s, scream and yell "Liberal bias" whenever story/information comes out hostile to Republican narrative
--Write books on subject, employ right wing think tanks to foster a narrative
--Create right wing media to continue to blather about left wing media (Limbaugh, etc)
--Find right wing oligarch to create "fair and balanced" news, or otherwise right-wing propaganda
--Allow media consolidation, reducing variance in views. "View" is the key, gone is actual news information, rather "perspective" and click bait shit
--Allow cross ownership. Let capitalist oligarchs own not only their own companies, but then the media centers as well, the media thus becomes a form of advertisement for company. Where will that end up?
--Install authoritarian into white house to continue the purge of "Liberal media". Media even considered benign (CNN) will be neutralized.
--Ultimate goal is elimination of any perceived Liberal bias in any part of our society. Media, schools, companies, Youtube, you name it.

It won't be easy to undo this bullshit.

Seems to be all the rage today.

Wait, SC will block that and change their tune that (Democraic) Prez doesn’t have the authority—-for ANYTHING.

You know the game of Monopoly is an old game, because there's a "luxury tax" and that rich people can go to jail.

...hosted by the late UIUC professor Robert McChesney. It was one of the first shows that I recall also being available as a podcast. IIRC, one of the shows was a speech by McChesney on the history of the mass media, including the experience of the Allied forces in the aftermath of WWII. One of the first things that was done in the postwar period was to break up the huge media monopolies which had been allowed to accumulate, both in Europe and Japan.

But then, the money will -always- protect itself.