THE NEWS MEDIA| 151DEREGULATION
The FCC’s limits on ownership and content assumed that radio and TV stations
were public trustees with a responsibility to provide full and unbiased coverage
of political events. This assumption changed with the development of cable TV,
satellite TV, and the Internet. After all, with so many sources of information, if one
broadcaster ignored a candidate, issue, or viewpoint, citizens could still fi nd what
they wanted from another source. Pressure for deregulation also came from the
owners of media companies, who wanted to buy more TV, radio, and cable stations,
as well as from book and magazine publishers, Internet service providers, and
newspapers, in order to increase effi ciencies and profi ts.^88 Ultimately, the Tele-
communications Act of 1996 gave the FCC the power to revise all ownership and
content restrictions enacted over the last two generations; since then, the FCC has
abolished most ownership restrictions. (The equal time provision is still in place,
but the fairness doctrine was eliminated in 1987.)^89
These regulatory changes accelerated two trends in American news media.
The fi rst is concentration, which involves one company owning more than
one media source in a town or community. For example, Clear Channel Commu-
nications owns multiple AM and FM radio stations in more than 30 cities. The
concentration The trend toward
single-company ownership of sev-
eral media sources in one area.HOLDINGS OF NEWS CORPORATION
News Corporation is an example of a media conglomerate, a company that controls a variety of different media outlets
throughout the world. It owns cable television networks, TV and radio stations, newspapers, movie production companies,
magazines, and even sports teams. This structure allows the company to operate more effi ciently, as it can rebroadcast or
reprint stories in different outlets, but opponents are concerned that conglomerates might expand to control most or even all
of the sources that are available to the average citizen, making it impossible to access alternate points of view.
Fox Television Stations Film Companies Books and Magazines
27 U.S. stations 20th Century Fox The Weekly Standard
Fox Searchlight Pictures TV Guide (partial)
Fox Television Studios 3 other magazines
Blue Sky Studios 45 book publishers worldwide
11 other fi lm companiesSatellite and Cable Holdings Newspapers Other Holdings
DirecTV New York Post Los Angeles Kings (40 percent ownership)
Fox News Channel Wall Street Journal Los Angeles Lakers (10 percent
ownership)
46 other cable channels worldwide 4 UK newspapers Hulu.com (32 percent ownership)
18 news and entertainment websites
20 Australian newspapers 15 other businesses
24 local U.S. newspapersNUTS & bolts