Dr. A. H. Krieg
Bradenton, FL 34202
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Gentlemen,
What has taken place in the radio industry since the advent of the Communications Act of America is a disgrace. That is a forthright statement so it must be qualified. According to my information you are presently considering doing something about payola of music industry products an issue obviously unsuccessfully addressed by the Commission in the late 50's. This issue, as I understand it is to curb the result that the same songs are played over and over again by all radio stations thereby curtailing diversity. While this is an equitable goal it is the very tip of a huge iceberg that has resulted from the actions of the board over the last 50 years. These actions have resulted in diminished variety of product in music as well as in talk shows and news. I am confident that you are well aware that over 1000 radio stations have been bought out by the media giants of the radio industry Clear Cannel Communications Inc, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications Corp, Univision Communications Inc. and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. This has served to stifle local programming and produced a homogenized one issue fits all mentality in all topics. Let me first say that I am an author who has six books in print and one on the way. My books deal with 20th and 21st century politics and history. In 2005 I opened my own publishing house to overcome the scandalous issues relating to book distribution, but that's another story. One principal way by which an author or publisher can attain the necessary popularity to be know and to sell books is talk radio. Let me relate to you what has happened to that industry since the enactment of this heinous law. My first book on these issues was The Satori and the New Mandarins published by Hallberg in 1998, shortly thereafter July 4th 2016 The Last Independence Day was published also by Hallberg. Over the next 12 months prior to enactment of the Communications Act I did about 300 radio shows with talk show hosts all over America, most hosts had me on several times so I began to have a relationship with them. By the enactment of the law I had a list of about 160 hosts with whom I was familiar. The law passed and things began to radically change. Out of the 160-radio talk show hosts within eight months over 100 were out of work. The station that had been independent and produced local programming and served the communities in which they resided were gobbled up by huge syndicates that immediately eliminated local content, fired almost all employees and piped in programming via telephone lines form NYC, LA, and Chicago. In some markets the very same conglomerate wound up owning all stations and other news sources to boot. The very same thing as what took place in the newspaper industry from 1950 when there were over 4000 different papers in publication to today with fewer than 300 was taking place in radio. Worse yet some of these conglobates own not only the radio but also the newspapers and in some few markets even the TV rights. I can tell you and would be glad to back it up in a court of law that the entire newsprint industry as far as authors are concerned is a closed book where without the proper contacts and payola no book gets reviewed. This is the same circumstance that is taking place in the radio industry today. What has taken place on your watch is the consolidation of information restricted to a small number of ideology driven conglomerates who are now controlling the venue' of ideas and information. This is a disservice to the entire nation; it's citizens and its government. Alexander Solzhenitsyn said it best; "Today's modern media is more powerful than any government". It is a fact that in this information age the fifth estate has attained more power than any other social or governmental authority. It is your job gentlemen to keep that free flow of ideas available to all, something of which you have been sadly remiss. While media is not able to make you think in a specific way they are most certainly able to control what you think about and thereby are able to control societal discourse. While the Commission engages itself in the music industry, news, books, and the flow of information is being stifled to a degree that would make Dr. Goebbels proud. While economies of scale may well allow for higher profit margins in media operation, it is not the purpose of media to maximize profits it is their function to keep a free society well informed so that citizens are able to make rational choices. This is no longer taking place. You might all well remember one of Karl Marx's principles, the control of media. Half measures like those proposed by the Commission for the music industry of FCC oversight of transactions between the music industry and broadcasters in no way accomplishes the desired outcome of diversification of product. Please bear in mind that like the publishing industry of books there are a very small number of major publishers in music, and author or composer must first avail himself of the publishers acquiescence to even review the product, something that is almost impossible in the industry without payola. All this is without even addressing the issues of distribution that remain closed to smaller companies in both venues'. While in Newspapers we are down to just under 300 separate entities from over 3000 in a short 50 years ago the six largest radio conglomerates own almost 2,000 radio stations and that consolidation took only 15 years under your watch. Dr. A. H. Krieg. |