Another Threat to Freedom of the Press

Big Media's Silence

"If allowed to stand, this surrender to media giantism would concentrate the power to decide what we read and see -- in both entertainment and news -- in the hands of an ever-shrinking establishment elite."

William Safire inveighs against the F.C.C.'s vote to allow greater concentration of the media by relaxing ownership limits. The result could well be that a few giant corporations end up owning most major media outlets to an even greater degree than they do today.

One of the interesting points that Safire, a conservative himself, makes is that much of the outcry has come from conservative organizations fearful of having their voices extinguished by a closely held "liberal" media. They say that politics makes strange bedfellows, and I find it odd to be making common cause with many of the organizations -- such as the N.R.A. -- that Safire cites. Then again, I find it interesting to see the Bush administration caught between liberal and conservative opinion on this issue. Let us hope that it has the desired effect and that the Congress rolls back this misguided decision by the F.C.C.