Comments on: The problem is not the calendar

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 21:21:35 +0000

While it might sound illogical, the survival of local broadcasting depends on the relaxation of media ownership rules. Now more than ever, local broadcasters face stiff competition from cable, satellite, and the Internet for the advertising dollars on which they depend. Without the resources afforded to them by the larger corporate owners, these local broadcasts would simply not be able to provide the services that they currently do, and many would undoubtedly be forced to close their doors, depriving the public of an invaluable resource.

By: Aldon Hynes

Aldon Hynes — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:33:47 +0000

Pat, I find your comments very interesting. What do you base your idea that ‘The Dean scream may have never spread around if it wasn’t for the internet.’ That doesn’t seem to fit with most accounts of what happened.

Also, I didn’t say much about media ownership. I did talk about that portion of the media that is owned by large corporations, but I didn’t make any comments about how best to address the problems with media ownership.

I am curious about your thoughts about how relaxing the rules will help local broadcasters as opposed to help large corporations like Sinclair or Clear Channel that continue to take over more and more local broadcasters.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:57:15 +0000

I do some consulting for the National Association of Broadcasters and I disagree with your assessment of media ownership. Today, consumers are able to access information in ways like never before. The Dean scream may have never spread around if it wasn’t for the internet.

We need to relax the media ownership rules so local broadcasters can compete with all these new choices that include cable and satellite.

By: Orient Lodge

Orient Lodge — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:35:04 +0000

The problem is not the calendar…

(Originally published at Greater Democracy)
On a couple mailing lists I’m on, people are talking about different ways to address problems in our electoral system. There are, of course, the issues of voting integrity, but there is also an interesting…