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More on Media Consolidation
A few more links on the important FCC decision coming up in a few weeks (see our previous story for more). Common Cause has a good set of background information and advocacy. The Washington Post has a story about the decision, focusing on how independent television stations will be squeezed even harder. This article about ClearChannel is a useful primer about the future of mass media.
I have tried listening to the one or two local college stations, but it was mostly alternative rock, heavy metal, and rap/hip-hop, none of which I enjoy. Oddly enough, I find the music (that which is there, which isn't much), on some local commercial stations more enjoyable than any of the music I've listened to on local college stations. Concerning the readability of physical newspapers over reading them on-line, that's all preference. Some may find that true, but others not. Regardless, it is a fact that in general, the newspaper readers that remain are dying off, and are not being replaced. This fact is already well established by the Newspaper Association of America. For more information on the subject, see an article at Tim Porter's web site. The Retriever's number of readers is unique, and not representative of the general state of America's newspapers.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
And even if they didn't come with an overt political point of view, they support one by default. Nearly every commercial ad is, in effect, a political ad marketing the corporatist socioeconomic world view.