The Political Whore

I’ve got the cover story on Wednesday about Big Media and the upcoming FCC hearings in Tampa on April 30. Here’s a few soundbites that didn’t make the story (and I’ll post a link to it once it is online midday tomorrow):

“There seems to be a real crisis in journalism today. We seem to see lots of infotainment. Budgets are being cut for newsgathering. We have to be concerned when we see news being wiped off the dial. One possible explanation for that is media consolidation. As these companies get bigger, and they have to answer to Wall Street … and where do you cut if you are a broadcast outlet? One of the biggest line items is local news operations, resulting in a race to the bottom. We’re seeing a real downward spiral in American journalism. We have to be sure that we understand the relationship.”

— FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein

“When convergence began at the Trib, some of us expressed concerns that this would be used as an excuse to combine staffs and lay off people. That didn’t happen per se. But corporate ownership makes profit more important than product, and what has happened at the Trib and newspapers across the country is the continuing cutting of operations.

“When you have less staff, you can do fewer stories, and you have less time on the stories you do. This means you can do fewer investigations. But it also reduces diversity in daily stories. For example, reporters may call up the usual sources instead of seeking out new people and new ideas.”

— former Tampa Tribune diversity team leader Suzie Siegel

“We have a shared purpose that we use all the time — building community, enriching lives and furthering democracy. But we’re not a 501(c)3. The goal is to gain access to readers viewers and users. And that translates into our ability to sell advertising in a way we would not have been able to before.”

— John Schueler, president of Media General’s Florida Publishing Group

“The industry still has that urge to merge. They will try to tell you that the situation is different and it’s changing. They still want to have their duopolies. They still want to own their newspaper and broadcast station.”

— FCC Commissioner Michael Copps

“When it comes to the online world, traditional journalism and traditional media outlets still lead the way. Everybody still eats off our plate. We’re still the ones who have dedicated resources to covering the news. You’ve still got to have some kind of base of reporting. Without that traditional media going out and digging up the stories and sitting at city council meetings, … you’ve got to have somebody who’s doing that in the wider cast.”

— Tampa Tribune Executive Editor Janet Coats

“I don’t think that the convergence is the problem with the diversity in this area. What Media General discovered is that convergence does not let you cut down on the number of personnel that you have.”

— Eric Deggans, president of Tampa Bay chapter of National Association of Black Journalists and St. Petersburg Times media critic.

“I came out totally convinced that not a single problem is going to be solved in this country until we solve the media problem. So many things hinge on the media’s ability.”

— Louise Thompson, executive director of Speak Up Tampa Bay public access television

“When a corporate giant takes over a Hispanic media outlet, there is not someone from the community to listen to those issues. The person in charge, the chairman of the board may be in Cincinnati or New York City or somewhere else, making that media distant from the community.”

— Marc Vila, general manager at La Super Q WQBN radio station

“Minority participation in America media today is grim. Nationally, people of color make up 33 percent of the U.S. population but own only 3.3 percent of all television stations. While ownership by people of color and women has increased in other industries, the percentage in the broadcast industry has worsened. In short, too few, own too much, at the expense of too many.”

— Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition statement via Free Press

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