Our View

By:

Shandra Jordan, editor in chief

Colleen Buhrer, managing editor

J.J. Babb, design managing editor

Willow Welter, visual editor

Kyle Endres, campus editor

Christopher J, Ortiz, opinion editor

Radio and advertising giant Clear Channel owns 248 of the 250

biggest radio stations in the country. The Gannett Company owns

more or less 150 media outlets (newspapers, television stations)

including The Coloradoan. Have you picked up a copy of Times or

People Magazine, or do you watch Friends or have you been counting

down the opening of the new Lord of The Rings movie? All of these

are owned by the largest of them all media conglomerate – AOL Time

Warner.

This week’s Dish cover story is about the effects Clear Channel

has over radio. The biggest concern the editorial board has about

media conglomerates is the lack of local and independent voices. We

find it concerning a Clear Channel radio station could be

controlled from Los Angeles rather than the local community it is

supposedly serving. This kind of displacement of local news sources

does not serve the public’s best interest.

We are also concerned with multiple news sources having the same

editorial board. When a small number of people have control over

the editorial content of dozens and dozens of newspapers and radio

and television stations, the public is being done a disservice. The

purpose of having multiple news outlets is to have different voices

and opinions and sources, and this is not happening when these

companies have as much control as they have.

The Federal Communications Commission is ultimately the one to

decide how much of a market a company such as Clear Channel or AOL

Time Warner has. In years past, laws and rules have been relaxed to

give this handful of companies a bigger and bigger share of

markets.

Is there an escape from this impending doom of the situation?

It’s hard to get to the news without going through these industry

giants, but there are local outlets and voices. Fort Collins has a

number of independent magazines and radio stations – KRFC 88.9 and

The Fort Collins Weekly and The Bullhorn. The Internet has allowed

for independent news to breathe air. So though the choices are not

as numerous as Clear Channel radio stations, the choice is still

out there.