In the Public Interest? The State of Local Television Programming Fifteen Years after Deregulation
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test the assertion that deregulation of broadcasting has caused a decline in the amount of local non-news programming produced by commercial television stations and find that the number of public affairs programs airing in the markets has declined.
Abstract: The authors' research tests the assertion that deregulation of broadcasting has caused a decline in the amount of local non–news programming produced by commercial television stations. Locally produced programming from stations in three markets was analyzed for the years 1976 (before deregulation), 1985 (during deregulation), and 1997. The markets were selected to give a broad representation of market size. Local programlistings were taken fromsystematically selected back issues of TV Guide to formconstructed weeks for analysis. The number of public affairs programs airing in the markets has declined. There was also a significant decrease in the number of hour-long programs aired and a significant relationship across all markets between the year studied and the days of the week on which a programaired. The analysis suggests that stations have not maintained their commitment to local public affairs programming. A recent Gore Commission report adds relevance to these findings.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the consolidation of local news and the paradox of expanded news hours in times of shrinking staffs and less-trusting audiences, focusing on Portland, Oregon, characterized as one of America's most civically active cities and a top-25 market.
Abstract: In response to the dearth of critical literature on the transformation of local news ownership structure and the impacts of technological reorganization of news production on the television profession and local communities, we analyze the consolidation of local news and the paradox of expanded news hours in times of shrinking staffs and less-trusting audiences. Focused on Portland, Oregon, characterized as one of America’s most civically active cities and a top-25 market, we interviewed many key workers from among the city’s four television newsrooms. Despite having union representation, once discrete news production professionals and functions have been radically integrated, resulting in a multitasked news staff forced to provide fast-turnaround for multiple platforms, while seriously weakening investigative reporting, the quality of news production, and the utility of local news for the community.
35 citations
Cites background from "In the Public Interest? The State o..."
...It is at the discretion of the FCC to determine whether commercially licensed U.S. television stations meet the expectation to air ‘some’ public interest programming serving community needs (Bishop and Hakanen, 2002)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between competitive conditions in television markets, ownership characteristics, and commercial broadcast television station provision of local public affairs programming and found that half of the stations in the sample did not air any local public-affairs programming during a 2-week sample period.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between competitive conditions in television markets, ownership characteristics, and commercial broadcast television station provision of local public affairs programming. The results from an analysis of a random sample of 285 fullpower television stations showed that half of the stations in the sample did not air any local public affairs programming during the 2-week sample period. Among the study’s other findings are that competitive conditions and station financial resources do not necessarily increase the provision of local public affairs programming and that ownership characteristics bear little meaningful relationship to local public affairs programming provision. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00320.x In the U.S. system of broadcast regulation, the provision of locally produced informational programming traditionally has been considered an important component of a station’s fulfillment of its obligation to serve the public interest (Federal Communications Commission [FCC], 1999b), with informational programming generally defined as local news and public affairs programming. It is through the provision of such programming that stations are able to serve the informational needs and interests of their local communities. This localism principle refers to media policy makers’ long-standing commitment to assuring that media services effectively serve and reflect the needs and interests of local communities—as opposed to having a primarily national or regional orientation in the services that they provide (FCC, 2004). The manifestation of this principle at one point took the form of specific FCC-imposed requirements for minimum levels of local news and public affairs programming (FCC, 1976). The FCC traditionally has operated under separate definitions of news and local public affairs programming. The commission has defined public affairs programming (the focus of this analysis) as ‘‘programs dealing with local, state, regional, national or
32 citations
Cites background from "In the Public Interest? The State o..."
...…of a composite program sample from days of the week throughout the year was to control for possible effects from idiosyncrasies associated with particular months or weeks within the year (e.g., sweeps period, election periods, or particularly active news weeks) (see Bishop & Hakanen, 2002)....
[...]
TL;DR: In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission changed the Local Television Ownership Rule, allowing a single company to own two television stations in the same media market as mentioned in this paper, and the new rules led to t...
Abstract: In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission changed the Local Television Ownership Rule, allowing a single company to own two television stations in the same media market. The new rules led to t...
30 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2013
11 citations
Cites background from "In the Public Interest? The State o..."
...Critics responded that deregulation concentrated oligopolistic ownership, which was antithetical to the FCC’s public interest requirements (Bishop & Hakanen, 2002; McKean & Stone, 1992)....
[...]
...In broadcast, the total hours devoted to public affairs programming was cut and replaced with inexpensive syndicated material (Bishop & Hakanen, 2002)....
[...]
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between duopoly ownership structure and the supply of local news and public affairs programming in the local television market and found that both duopoly stations and non-duopoly stations significantly increased their local news programming from 1997 to 2003.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between duopoly ownership structure and the supply of local news and public affairs programming in the local television market. The results show that both duopoly stations and non-duopoly stations significantly increased their local news programming from 1997 to 2003. The increases were attributable to the top four stations in each market. In addition, stations did not increase their efforts in local public affairs programming after becoming duopolies. The study also found that there was no significant difference in the amount of local news or local public affairs programming aired by duopoly and non-duopoly stations.
10 citations
Cites background from "In the Public Interest? The State o..."
...…stations generally failed to provide an adequate outlet for this type of show (Napoli, 2001a; Yan & Napoli, 2006), and the number of public affairs programs aired on local television has declined since the deregulation of the broadcast industry in the early 1980s (Bishop & Hakanen, 2002)....
[...]
...…sample from days of the week throughout the year was to control for possible effects from idiosyncrasies associated with particular months or weeks within the year (e.g., sweeps period, election periods, or particularly active news weeks) (see Bishop & Hakanen, 2002; Riffe, Lacy, & Fico, 1998)....
[...]
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: Rich Media, Poor Democracy as mentioned in this paper argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide.
Abstract: Robert McChesney argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide. "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" addresses the corporate media explosion and the corresponding implosion of public life that characterizes our times. Challenging the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information 'choices' is ipso facto a democratic one, McChesney argues that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are wealthy investors, advertisers, and a handful of enormous media, computer, and telecommunications corporations.This concentrated corporate control, McChesney maintains, is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy. Combining unprecedented detail on current events with historical sweep, McChesney chronicles the waves of media mergers and acquisitions in the late 1990s. He reviews the corrupt and secretive enactment of public policies surrounding the Internet, digital television, and public broadcasting. He also addresses the gradual and ominous adaptation of the First Amendment ('freedom of the press') as a means of shielding corporate media power and the wealthy. "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" exposes several myths about the media-in particular, that the market compels media firms to 'give the people what they want'- that limit the ability of citizens to grasp the real nature and logic of the media system. If we value our democracy, McChesney warns, we must organize politically to restructure the media in order to affirm their connection to democracy.
929 citations
TL;DR: The authors compared 20 sets each of samples of four different sizes (n=7, 14, 21 and 28) using simple random, constructed week and consecutive day samples of newspaper content.
Abstract: This study compares 20 sets each of samples of four different sizes (n=7, 14, 21 and 28) using simple random, constructed week and consecutive day samples of newspaper content. Comparisons of sampl...
467 citations
"In the Public Interest? The State o..." refers background in this paper
...Compositeweeks (Riffe, Aust, and Lacy 1993) ofTVGuidewere created for 1976, 1985, and 1997....
[...]
TL;DR: This article reported that the bulk of the news hole in local television newscasts was devoted to coverage of local public affairs and not to sensationalism or human interest stories as critics suggested.
Abstract: This research replicated a study by Adams (1978) in which he reported that the bulk of the news hole in local television newscasts was devoted to coverage of local public affairs and not to sensationalism or human interest stories as critics suggested. In 1992, a random sample of newscasts from the same 10 Pennsylvania stations reveals that news organizations devoted significantly more time to sensational/human interest stories in 1992 than they did in 1976. The time spent on such stories came at the expense of news coverage related to local government, politics, and education.
75 citations
"In the Public Interest? The State o..." refers background in this paper
...Where the decline in the amount of “local” information included in local news broadcasts has been studied extensively (Slattery and Hakanen 1994), the decline in locally produced non–news programming has received little attention from communication scholars....
[...]
69 citations
Book•
[...]
01 Sep 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, Postman and Powers warn that anyone who relies exclusively on TV for a knowledge of the world is making a serious mistake and suggest ways to intelligently evaluate TV news shows.
Abstract: An important guide to understanding what you're getting--and not getting--from TV news. Postman and Powers warn that anyone who relies exclusively on TV for a knowledge of the world is making a serious mistake and suggest ways to intelligently evaluate TV news shows.
66 citations
"In the Public Interest? The State o..." refers background in this paper
...Media critic Neil Postman (Postman and Powers 1992), among others (e.g., McChesney 1999), refers to this time period as the public affairs programming “ghetto.”...
[...]