| The Bronx Journal
Online-Community II
Corporate Media Consolidation, Social
Responsibility and Human Rights
Jim Carney
Executive Director/Bronxnet
June 29th, 2000 was an unusual
day in the history of corporate mega-mergers. Based upon objections from
the United States Justice Department and the European Union, MCI
Worldcom and Sprint withdrew their proposal to merge the two media
conglomerates into the second largest telephone related
telecommunications corporation in the world – at least for the time
being In a business environment where the corporate scorecards are
filled-in in pencil (but the numbers are astronomical) the derailing of
a corporate juggernaut such as the proposed MCI/Sprint merger is quickly
being applauded by consumer rights advocates and regulators on both
sides of the Atlantic and possibly beyond. Thanks to concerns of a
reduction in overall competition and virtually guaranteed higher rates
for consumers, Washington and the EU made it clear that they would go to
extremes to stop the marriage of the two giants. This comes on the heels
of numerous mega-mergers which are announced on almost a daily basis.
The defeat (or at least delay) of the MCI Worldcom/Sprint deal is
something of an exception.
Consumer advocates and smaller competitors
alike have decried the evils that are certain to arise from the creation
of such behemoths. Certainly the experience of mergers following the US
Telecommunications Act of 1998 has resulted in less consumer choice and
higher prices. But there is another undercurrent, which runs through all
the levels of these mergers that can have a subtle but devastating
effect. This undercurrent is the impact consolidation has upon corporate
culture’s approach to human rights, community affairs and even
employee relations.
A useful illustration of the potential to
advance - and the risk to backslide - is the CBS case. Once known as the
"Tiffany Network" and the home to legendary reporters and
commentators such as Walter Cronkite, CBS News consistently set the
journalistic standard for the industry. This tradition was begun by
journalists who had migrated from radio and newspapers to the exciting
new technology of television to again provide the leadership and
motivation to establish bureaus in far-flung corners of the globe and to
pursue journalistic excellence. The independence of the CBS News
Division was effectively crushed when the network was acquired by the
Loews corporation where leadership was less interested in excellence and
more interested in revenue. The slide continued - some would
argue accelerated - in 1995 when the aforementioned Westinghouse
Corporation acquired CBS. Soon afterward, CBS management (much of it
fresh from Westinghouse headquarters in Pittsburgh) downsized newsrooms,
shut down community affairs offices at local stations and discontinued
most community affairs programming. On the network level, bureaus were
closed and staffs laid-off or consolidated. Reports from most areas of
the world were soon coming from free-lance "stringer"
reporters who work on a pay-per-story basis, and on local news
organizations where integrity is unpredictable. The psychological and
physical distance of a correspondent based in Tokyo relying upon wire
service dispatches and stringers to report on an atrocity committed in
Indonesia or Malaysia, dilutes and often distorts the story.
Furthermore, without pictures to feed a visually hungry viewership, the
likelihood of the story being reported is diminished further. As a
result, the spiral feeds on itself.
Most recently we witnessed the merger of
CBS with media giant Viacom, complete with its cable networks such as
MTV and Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures Studio and Syndication business,
and Blockbuster Video. We are already witnessing the brand of synergy
this new conglomerate is advancing. In an attempt to win the coveted
youth market which has stubbornly shunned the network for years, Viacom
expanded upon the success of "reality programming" pioneered
by MTV with the series "Survivor". The limited series was much
promoted on MTV, VH1, Infinity Radio Stations from the CBS side, and
introduced the culinary delights of roasted rat. The new follow-up
voyeuristic series called "Big Brother" soon followed. The
nature and the content of these programs are less disturbing than the
ancillary promotion that is being conducted through CBS News (now a
division of CBS Entertainment). Each morning following an episode of
"Survivor" and following "Big Brother" a significant
portion of the CBS Morning News features interviews with host Bryant
Gumbel and participants from the "reality programs." Even more
disturbing - the morning news anchor has been reporting from within the
closed set of "Big Brother."
Perhaps the most disturbing illustration of
the new Viacom’s commitment to social responsibility is a simple word
search of the company’s web site. A search for the words "social
responsibility" results in one "hit" – a press release
announcing the move of the "socially responsible" teen
television series "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" from ABC to the
WB Network.
The decrease in credible reporting from
remote areas of the world, as well as impoverished ghettos and mountain
hamlets in our own country, narrows our view of the rest of the world.
While more of the world is now able to learn about and witness the
diversity of the planet through satellite and wireless technologies, the
sources of programming are becoming fewer and more myopic in their
presentations. MSNBC and SKY News can now be seen in the deepest jungles
of South America and the heart of China, but the message is delivered
from New York City, London or a handful of other "media
capitals".
As nationalism is replaced by economic
alliances, and as advances in technology outpace any efforts of
regulation or even allow thoughtful consideration - hope still forces
its way through history. While basic human nature may not have changed
over the last century, our ability to become aware of our own plights
and the plights of our fellow man has exploded. Furthermore, through
technology we increasingly have the capacity to act to improve our
collective plight. All it takes is the will to do so. |
