Structural regulation, concentration, and democratization: A political economic analysis of the National Television Station Ownership rule.

摘要

This dissertation uses a political economic approach to analyze the rhetoric surrounding debates of the National Television Station Ownership rule (NTSO) and the actual and potential consequences of increased media concentration. The study utilizes this interpretive empirical method to examine the historical context of the debates, their significance within the current U.S. political economy, and the state's role in these deliberations.; The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the NTSO rule in the 1940s with the belief that the rule would increase diversity of viewpoints and "fair" competition. But since at least the late 1970s, the rule has been viewed as an impediment to broadcasters' pursuit of the benefits of economies of scale. The continued relaxation of ownership rules such as the NTSO rule has, in part, led to the proliferation of media mergers, for rules that once inhibited large companies from merging have consistently been eased or eradicated in the name of competition.; At the micro-level, this study focuses on the history of the NTSO rule, the Viacom-CBS merger, and News Corporation's strategies for fulfilling the company's special interests. I argue that attacks upon structural regulations once created to prevent media concentration and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) acquiescence are quite alarming when we consider how essential the media are to the democratic political process: to inform the citizenry for purposes of self-governance. At the macro-level, this study focuses on how the logic of capitalism is indeed antithetical to democratic ideals. The short-term goal of media ownership reform via the state, while seemingly necessary to either decrease concentration or stabilize the current U.S. media structure, should be matched with long-term goals of social and economic justice, for democratization will be difficult to achieve if survival remains a constant challenge for a large portion of the U.S. population and an even greater proportion of the global population. As such, I present ways in which media activists can work for change within the current political economic system and propose possible alternatives to the capitalist media system.