By By Brendan O’Reilly

Imagine only five men control a majority of what you hear, see, and read in the media of the United States. Now stop imagining because it is true. In 1983 there were 50 corporations that controlled a majority of US media. Due to mergers and buy-outs, the number dropped to 23 by 1990. Ten years later there were only six, and in 2004 we were left with five: Time Warner, Disney, News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany and Viacom. It was General Electric, owner of NBC, who most recently dropped off the list. The “Big Five” control almost all American newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies.

The Federal Communications Commission recently raised the cap on the amount of television, radio stations and newspapers a single corporation could own in 2003. The result, like every other time the cap has been raised, was a loss of localism and competition. Luckily, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia halted the implementation of some of the changes and later ordered the FCC to revisit their decision with public interest, rather than corporate interest, in mind.

If you live at the University, or anywhere on Long Island, you would not have noticed a change in the content available on television, because the only “local” television station is News 12. News 12’s tagline is “As local as local News Gets.” It is sad when local is considered a coverage area as large as Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut, The Bronx and New Jersey. In rural areas and cities with small populations, local content is something taken for granted. Most viewers will fail to realize how great having local content is until it is replaced by national programming.

Some would call consolidation progress, but in reality the media is regressing. The “Big Five” produce roughly 75 percent of what viewers watch in prime time. They are well on their way to controlling as much of the market as the old “Big Three,” ABC, NBC and CBS, did over 40 years ago. Back in that day, however, the FCC protected the public interest and diversity of opinions by requiring independent production of programming on the big networks.

You may think that that since these corporations are so huge they would be able to report freely and honestly on the news if they chose. This assumption is wrong. Large news outlets rarely report negative stories about their advertisers, because the loss of profit would negatively affect their earning growth. They also overlook scandalous behavior by politicians they are lobbying to expand their network’s reach. Then there is the constant problem that journalists and reporters put their jobs on the line when they do not follow the ideology of those in charge; when they try to do their job..

The FCC should be defending the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of press and speech by maintaining a media market that is conducive to various viewpoints and competition. They are now reevaluating their 2003 decision to raise caps after they noticed that instances of obscenity on air have increased due to national public figures with microphones who are not consistent with local values.

Everyone should write their senator and congressman to tell them to make sure the FCC protects public interest rather than large corporations. Though, you may be hard pressed to find a politician who will stand against five corporations with the power to influence the voting public on who to reelect. Your best chance would be with a progressive Democrat. Modern Republicans seem more inclined to side with corporate interest. President Bush has been a proponent of the changes and the FCC commission is split down party lines with three Republicans supporting relaxation of ownership rules and two Democrats opposing. One of those Republicans was the former FCC chairman, Michael Powell, son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He announced his resignation this January and stepped down in March. Kevin Martin replaced him. He served as a commissioner under Powell prior to Bush promoting him. Of the five FCC commissioners, only three may be from the same political party and Congress must confirm the president’s appointees for their five-year terms. Were it not for these limits, all five commissioners would surely be Republicans.

Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner, Gerald Levin, Sumner Redstone, and Gunter Thielen. Know these names. They are the five men who shape politics and condition the social values of America.