Democracys essential reform: For democracy to survive, media must thrive
by Michael Copps, Bill Moyers.com
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/16/democracys-essential-reform-for-democracy-to-survive-media-must-thrive_partner/
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By now, even those who retained slight hope after the election that maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all have shed their blinders and come to understand that we’re in for the worst of times. That’s no “populist” administration taking shape; instead the president-elect is assembling a coterie of billionaires and millionaires that surpasses in wealth, by orders of magnitude, any previous presidency.
So it’s time to stop the “Let’s see if they throw us a bone on this issue or that issue” and realize that big business is in the saddle, that any meaningful government oversight of business, consumer protection and the media is targeted for extinction, and that much of the public interest progress of the last century is on the chopping block.
I mention “media” because broadcast and cable played the formative role in letting — encouraging — this sad state of affairs to happen. While big media organizations were raking in billions with carnival coverage of the 2016 campaign, real issues coverage and in-depth journalism were just about nowhere to be found on TV and cable programs. A few big newspapers did better, but still the civic dialogue was starved to such an extent that most voters today don’t know quite what they voted for. They’re about to find out.
Conservative think tanks have been tapped by the president-elect to formulate his communications policy. Every day finds a new transition adviser on board who loudly trumpets undying opposition to an open internet, net neutrality, community broadband and bringing affordable, high-speed connectivity to every American. The current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made real progress on many of these fronts, although much remains to be done. But the incoming FCC that seems to be taking shape will be out to gut as much of this as it possibly can. It will be aided and abetted — and sometimes led — by a Congress in which the majority is on a parallel track, and policy is largely dictated by ideological zealots.
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