12-3-03

Democracy and Ideas

 The First Amendment to the United States constitution was based on the 

idea that in order for a democracy to flourish, the electorate must remain 

well informed enough to make rational decisions. In order for this to 

happen, the free flow of ideas cannot be hampered. The amendment, of 

course, mentions only the press. At that time, the printed word was the 

most efficient form of disseminating ideas. But later inventions, such as 

the telegraph, radio, film, phonograph, television, the internet, etc. 

opened up new avenues for the expression of ideas. 

      The Federal Communications Commission was instituted in 1934 as a 

more inclusive extension of the 1927 Radio Act. The Act was predicated on 

the trusteeship model, which declared radio waves a national resource that, 

because of spectrum scarcity, could be used, but not owned. As such, 

broadcasters are considered the caretakers of the airwaves, whose 

legitimacy is derived from the public, whose interests outweight the 

broadcaster's commercial interests. This idea was eloquently stated by 

Supreme Court Justice Byron White in Red Lion Broadcasting vs. United 

States: 
	
        "...It is the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an 

unihibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail,

rather than to countenance monpolization of that market, whether it be 

by the Government, or by a private licensee".

	This model has been deconstructed, beginning with the Reagan 

administration's appointment of Mark Fowler as Chairman of the FCC. Fowler 

disagreed with the trustee model, preferring to see it as an infringement 

of the broadcasters' right to make a profit. He belived the "the market" 

was the appropriate caretaker of the spectrum. Far from being responsible 

for maintaining the electorates' access to information, Fowler insisted 

that machines which disseminate information are home appliances, products 

whose purpose is to make money. He even went so far as call television "a 

toaster with pictures". By the end of Fowler's tenure at the FCC, radio 

news and public affairs content dropped by 50%, while saturday morning toy 

advertisements exploded, with the FCC giving the green light to toy based 

children's shows, which funtion as a covert 30 minute advertisement for 

children. 

	In recent years, thanks in part to the FCC, access to most of the 

media used to disseminate information has been swallowed up by 6 

increasingly complex, multi-layered, multi-national corporations, owned 

by an interlocking directorship of global financial elites. The current 

FCC Chairman Michael Powell, son of State Secretary Colin Powell, has even 

hinted at privatising the airwaves altogether. Under this model, the 

maintenance of democracy through free public access to information is 

discarded for a model in which the rights of capital are paramount and all 

consuming. This is a fundamental switch. 

      The American public, however, is largely unaware of this, not 

surprisingly, since it hasn't been in the news lately, for some reason. 

However, I strongly get the impression many Americans wouldn't comprehend 

the big picture even if you told them. After all, this is America. We have 

experts to figure out that stuff. The news is, like, so boring, you know? 

I'd rather watch something funny, like Friends. Did you see Monica's 

sweater? It was so last year.

Previous<-------------------------------------------------------------->Next