Vast Wasteland

In 1961 the chairman of the FCC, Newton Minow, made his famous speech before the National Association of Broadcasters in which he invited them to spend an entire day watching their own TV stations. He told them that they would find that television was a “vast wasteland.” Since television is a vast wasteland then the modern corporate news media should be considered the Sahara desert.

US television media is owned by only nine corporations: AOL/ Time Warner, AT&T, GE, News Corporation, Viacom, Sony, Vivendi, Liberty Media, and Disney. As investor-owned firms these corporations are legally obligated to maximize the profits for their shareholders. This demand invariably creates situations in which there are conflicts between those who are to report the news and the news itself. If corporate-owned news media outlets have to choose between their legal obligations to their sponsors and shareholders, both of whom hold the corporations money strings, or the news they have no choice but to satisfy the interest of their investors and sponsors.

One example of such a conflict is ABC (Disney) and its close relationship with Wal-Mart. In the past Wal-Mart has sponsored the Good Morning America segment “Only in America” and has been a regular sponsor of World News Tonight’s “Person of the Week” segment. So is there any proof that their sponsorship has had an effect on the objectivity of the news broadcast? ABC has since run segments on how Wal-Mart could teach FEMA about handling disasters, how Wal-Mart is going green, and how Wal-Mart is improving life in China. Is it just a coincidence that they tend to give positive stories on one of the worst corporations who also just happens to be a regular sponsor? I don’t think so.

Can anything good be found in corporate television news? If one looks hard enough one can find the occasional oasis in that desolate realm. One such oasis is Keith Olbermann who host’s MSNBC’s “Countdown”. While his “Special Comments” have earned him well-deserved acclaim it’s what he said about the Green Bay Packers on the October 7th broadcast of NBC’s “Football Night in America” that showed how impressive he truly is.

“When it's all about small markets and large markets and revenue streams, there is a pro football franchise in Green Bay, Wisconsin… How does Favre get to cavort in Green Bay when Green Bay is a vestige of a time when the NFL was made up of the Duluth Eskimos, and the Staten Island Stapletons and the Pottsville Maroons? The Packers have survived since football's Stone Age because of non-profit community investment. The fans, in essence, own that team. TV revenue sharing saved that team in the '60s and limiting free agency saved it again in the '80s. Green Bay, Wisconsin, population 102,313… should be the model for sports franchises in this country, instead it's an anachronism." (Source: 'Football Night in America' Week 5 Quotables, Published: October 7, 2007)
To see and hear his whole fantastic commentary visit:
http://www.truveo.com/NFL-in-Green-Bay/id/3903930899

As long as there is corporate ownership of the television media then great commentators such as Keith Olbermann will be far and few between in that barren land.