Ted Turner's Beef with Big Media (Tin Foil Hat Award)

It sounds a bit hypocritical I know to think media mogul Ted Turner could have a problem with big media, but anyone that doesn't know the story of the self made upstart would be well served by reading the WashingtonMonthly.com article "My Beef with Big Media" (how government protects big media--and shuts out upstarts like me).

No matter what your views on the man's politics, his insider's story of the FCC's failures over the past 40 years, the loss of localism, quality and democratic debate in media coverage and his sweeping condemnation of pretty much everything in broadcast/cable media (including how Time Warner fails miserably now compared to when he ran CNN) should give any of us tin foil hat envy, as this man actually knows what he's talking about.

Try to read the whole thing as it's current (not to mention an easy read from a regular guy) and since any one of his points could be brought out in seperate discussions as a relevant political scandal or NWO harbinger. But be sure not to miss his conclusion which relies on his own monopolistic efforts as evidence for the obvious solution...

I freely admit: When I was in the media business, especially after the federal government changed the rules to favor large companies, I tried to sweep the board, and I came within one move of owning every link up and down the media chain. Yet I felt then, as I do now, that the government was not doing its job. The role of the government ought to be like the role of a referee in boxing, keeping the big guys from killing the little guys. If the little guy gets knocked down, the referee should send the big guy to his corner, count the little guy out, and then help him back up. But today the government has cast down its duty, and media competition is less like boxing and more like professional wrestling: The wrestler and the referee are both kicking the guy on the canvas.

At this late stage, media companies have grown so large and powerful, and their dominance has become so detrimental to the survival of small, emerging companies, that there remains only one alternative: bust up the big conglomerates.

Please note for the record my fellow revolution minded cohorts that he didn't say bust up the FCC, he said make the government do it's job. I would ask that my anti-government / pro-corporate Libertarian friends consider that with some gravity.

[edit on 21-8-2004 by RANT]

RANT, great article. I am almost scared that we can agree on certain things. *wink* I'm even gonna bookmark this gem for by husband to read.
Yes, the media is out of control. And, I really wonder about the merger mania in the industry.
There is so little news anymore anywhere. I get more news here at ATS than I get on cable. Local news is non-existant.

The moral of the story?

TED TURNER ROCKS!!!!

Too bad your a moderator RANT since I have all my votes left.

Now I'm waiting to see who buys Google after the inevitable IPO bubble burst. The big guys need control beyond just MSNBC, Yahoo and AOL. Combine Google indexing with Echelon and Carnivore and then what do we have?

Now i'll lite a cigarette (I know I should quit) and wait for some poor unenlightened poster to come along and turn this into mudsligning by bringing up his wife.