Ask the Scholar
Page 69 of 81
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Institute of Communications Research
January 20, 2000
Coliege of Communications
I
222B Armory Building
505 East Armory Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820-6295 USA
From: Professor Robert W. McChesney
To: President William J. Clinton
Mr. President,
I was asked by the White House Office of Communications to prepare a short memorandum for you
regarding what I consider to be an important area where public policy can and should intervene for the
better.
Here goes.
MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT FROM PROFESSOR ROBERT W. McCHESNEY
REGARDING MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
The present era has been aptly named the "Information Age." We live in an era of mind-boggling
technological developments in media and communication, exemplified most notably by the emergence of the
Internet. There is much that is remarkable, even astonishing, about the Internet. It gives a person rapid
access to unfathomable amounts if information. It is revolutionizing commerce and altering human
interpersonal communication patterns. In many respects this is a truly democratic medium.
But there are also trends in media and communication that do not bode well for democracy. The core trend
is toward concentration in media and communication industries. In 1996 at this time, for example, there
were 12 major U.S. telecommunication firms. Today, after a wave of jaw-dropping mergers, there are six,
and several of these firms have moved aggressively into new areas. AT&T, for example, is now the largest
cable television company in the United States. Likewise in the media industries, a wave of massive mergers
has left its numerous parts (film, TV, books, magazines, cable TV, newspapers, music) in the hands of
some two dozen companies, and of those the nine largest rule the roost. These nine firms own all the film
studios, all the TV networks, four of the five music companies that sell over 85 percent of the music in the
U.S., a majority of the cable TV systems, most of the TV stations in the 12 largest markets, most of the
cable TV channels, most of the books that are sold, and much much more.
This is an immense amount of economic and cultural power held in very few hands. And it is worth noting
that these are not competitive markets in the economic sense of the term, because high barriers-to-entry
prohibit newcomers from entering. Even if we concede that the nine CEOs of these companies are
extraordinarily wise people, the fact remains that this is an untenable situation for the free press in a
democratic society. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a press system where one could establish a viable
medium that could reach a large section of the population at a relatively low cost. That option does not
exist today.
In fact, the personal characteristics of these CEOs are irrelevant, because they all rationally and logically
do what they are commissioned to do maximize their shareholders' return. And, in a nutshell, that is the
problem with our media system today. It is set up to serve the needs of Wall Street and Madison Avenue
telephone 217-333-1549 fax 217-244-7695
email [email protected] uri http://www.comm.uuc.edu/icr/home/
Page data
- Page
- 69
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 8583222dc579325b
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 26413421
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "26413421",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Visions of the Future from Leading Thinkers [Binder] [2]",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421",
"collections": [
"Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
"Bruce Reed's General Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"imageCount": 81,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "26413421",
"label": "Visions of the Future from Leading Thinkers [Binder] [2]",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "26413421",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Visions of the Future from Leading Thinkers [Binder] [2]",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421",
"collections": [
"Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
"Bruce Reed's General Files"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_001.JPG",
"imageCount": 81,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26413421",
"naId": 26413421,
"levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
"otherTitles": [
"42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015"
],
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 69,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/4134/26413421/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2011-0299-S-General/2011-0299-S-General-JPG/Box_155/42-t-7367462-20110299S-155-011-2015/42_t_7367462_20110299S_155_011_2015_Page_069.JPG",
"mediaId": "8583222dc579325b",
"ocrText": "UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS\nAT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN\nInstitute of Communications Research\nJanuary 20, 2000\nColiege of Communications\nI\n222B Armory Building\n505 East Armory Avenue\nChampaign, IL 61820-6295 USA\nFrom: Professor Robert W. McChesney\nTo: President William J. Clinton\nMr. President,\nI was asked by the White House Office of Communications to prepare a short memorandum for you\nregarding what I consider to be an important area where public policy can and should intervene for the\nbetter.\nHere goes.\nMEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT FROM PROFESSOR ROBERT W. McCHESNEY\nREGARDING MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION\nThe present era has been aptly named the \"Information Age.\" We live in an era of mind-boggling\ntechnological developments in media and communication, exemplified most notably by the emergence of the\nInternet. There is much that is remarkable, even astonishing, about the Internet. It gives a person rapid\naccess to unfathomable amounts if information. It is revolutionizing commerce and altering human\ninterpersonal communication patterns. In many respects this is a truly democratic medium.\nBut there are also trends in media and communication that do not bode well for democracy. The core trend\nis toward concentration in media and communication industries. In 1996 at this time, for example, there\nwere 12 major U.S. telecommunication firms. Today, after a wave of jaw-dropping mergers, there are six,\nand several of these firms have moved aggressively into new areas. AT&T, for example, is now the largest\ncable television company in the United States. Likewise in the media industries, a wave of massive mergers\nhas left its numerous parts (film, TV, books, magazines, cable TV, newspapers, music) in the hands of\nsome two dozen companies, and of those the nine largest rule the roost. These nine firms own all the film\nstudios, all the TV networks, four of the five music companies that sell over 85 percent of the music in the\nU.S., a majority of the cable TV systems, most of the TV stations in the 12 largest markets, most of the\ncable TV channels, most of the books that are sold, and much much more.\nThis is an immense amount of economic and cultural power held in very few hands. And it is worth noting\nthat these are not competitive markets in the economic sense of the term, because high barriers-to-entry\nprohibit newcomers from entering. Even if we concede that the nine CEOs of these companies are\nextraordinarily wise people, the fact remains that this is an untenable situation for the free press in a\ndemocratic society. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a press system where one could establish a viable\nmedium that could reach a large section of the population at a relatively low cost. That option does not\nexist today.\nIn fact, the personal characteristics of these CEOs are irrelevant, because they all rationally and logically\ndo what they are commissioned to do maximize their shareholders' return. And, in a nutshell, that is the\nproblem with our media system today. It is set up to serve the needs of Wall Street and Madison Avenue\ntelephone 217-333-1549 fax 217-244-7695\nemail [email protected] uri http://www.comm.uuc.edu/icr/home/"
}