Future of Music Coalition, Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of
America and Consumers Union Urge FCC to Take Employment Effects of Their
Policies into Account During Upcoming Review of Media Ownership Rules
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A study released today by the Future
of Music Coalition (FMC) found that the vast majority of major U.S. cities
has experienced both layoffs and lower wage growth within the radio
profession, associated with the unprecedented consolidation of radio
station ownership over the last decade. The study also shows that the job
losses in radio impede federal policy mandates to promote localism and
diversity in media.
"Consolidation in radio ownership hasn't just homogenized music
formats," said Jenny Toomey, musician and executive director of the Future
of Music Coalition. "It has devastated the broadcast profession and
virtually eliminated the ability of radio stations to provide unique
coverage of local news, music and community issues. Before the FCC moves
forward to further loosen already weak ownership limits, it should
understand the impact that deregulation has had on jobs and communities."
The study's findings include:
-- The combined market share of the top four radio companies in each local
market increased by an average of 14.3 percent between 1993 and 2004
across 265 markets.
-- Cities with higher degrees of radio consolidation had greater job
losses among news reporters and broadcast technicians from 1996 to
2003.
-- Cities with higher degrees of radio consolidation experienced smaller
wage growth for DJs and news reporters from 1996 to 2003.
"This study by FMC once again shows what news professionals know about
consolidation of media ownership: It results in fewer newsroom jobs and, as
a result, fewer resources devoted to reporting the news," noted Linda
Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA and vice president of the
Communications Workers of America. "No wonder radio news, once the primary
source of local news and information, has all but disappeared from the
American landscape."
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated the cap on the number of
radio stations one company, organization, or individual may own nationally,
and loosened limits on ownership of stations within a single market. Radio
companies claimed ownership limits prevented them from taking advantage of
"economies of scale."
The FMC study on the employment effect of radio consolidation found
that, since 1996, as radio companies have consolidated, they have cut costs
by centralizing some operations in distant markets, such as on air DJs,
programmers, reporters, and engineering or broadcast-technician jobs.
Among the practices the study identified that resulted in layoffs,
depressed wage growth, and reduced localism include: "voice tracking," a
practice of using pre-recorded programming that replaces live and local
DJs; reduced ability of stations to conduct emergency broadcast warnings;
increased use of nationalized music programming; and reduced local news
coverage.
"Voice tracking in particular has had a negative impact on employment,"
Toomey said, "but, much worse, it creates lasting damage to music
communities. With fewer local DJs and programmers, area musicians can't get
on the air and listeners are deprived of local news and music."
One of the nation's leading consumer organizations expressed similar
concerns:
"Fewer real people doing less local news undermines diversity of
viewpoints in local media," said Gene Kimmelman, vice president of
Consumers Union. "That's a clear signal that allowing fewer owners of our
local media is dangerous to our democracy."
The 1996 Telecommunications Act requires that the FCC review its media
ownership regulations every three years. In June 2006, the FCC opened
another media ownership proceeding, seeking public comment on whether the
existing ownership limits should be further loosened, a change sought by
the radio industry.
Based on the study's findings, the FMC called on the FCC to recognize
the correlation between deregulation and job loss and slower wage growth
among radio employees as it debates whether to further loosen ownership
limits.
FMC also urged the FCC to complete its pending review of the impact of
media concentration on localism before moving forward with any changes on
media ownership limits. The Localism Task Force, launched two years ago,
has yet to produce a report or offer policy recommendations, even though
promoting localism is one of the FCC's mandates.
The study, conducted by FMC Research Director Peter DiCola, relies on
data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment Survey to
measure employment in each of three radio professions (DJs, news reporters,
and broadcast technicians) in 246 cities over the years 1996 through 2003.
Data on radio station ownership comes from BIA Financial Networks' Media
Access Pro software. The correlation between radio consolidation and job
loss and between radio consolidation and smaller wage growth emerge from
statistical regressions that control for the total number of stations in
each city and for time trends.
The study, available on the FMC website, includes details on the legal
framework under which the FCC can begin to track job loss as one facet of
localism and diversity, on data sources, and on the statistical methods
used. The study will also be published later this year as a chapter in the
forthcoming Media Diversity and Localism by Lawrence Erlbaum and
Associates.
A similar study on jobs and diversity in the communications and media
sector by Institute for Women's Policy Research also corroborates FMC's
findings on job losses and depressed wage growth. This study, entitled
"Making the Right Call," can be found at http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C364.pdf.
The Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education,
research and advocacy organization that identifies, examines, interprets
and translates the challenging issues at the intersection of music, law,
technology and policy. FMC achieves this through continuous interaction
with its primary constituency -- musicians -- and in collaboration with
other creator/citizen groups.
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SOURCE Future of Music Coalition
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CONTACT:
Jenny Toomey of FMC, +1-202-518-4117; Michael
Bracy of FMC, +1-202-331-2958; Candice Johnson of CWA,
+1-202-434-1347; or Jeannine Kenney of Consumers Union,
+1-202-462-6262
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