Media Reform

Media Reform Talking Points

Media Consolidation and Sound bites

• As of September 30, 2003 – 13,450 broadcast radio stations are listed as licensed by the FCC (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

• Five corporations (Disney, Viacom, GE/Vivendi, Newscorp/Liberty and AOL-Time Warner) own the seven major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, UPN,NBC, FOX, WB and Telemundo) in addition to both of the major cable news services (CNN and MSNBC). (“Free TV swallowed by Media Giants” Center for Digital Democracy, 9/15/03)

• The top five producer of prime time programming accounted for 42% of the total in 1989. In 2002, the major networks were the top five producers of prime time programming and accounted for over 80% of the total. (“Free TV swallowed by Media Giants” Center for Digital Democracy, 9/15/03)

• Historically, nightly network newscasts are descried as having 22 minutes of news in a 30-minute program. A recent survey observed a closer average of just over 18 minutes of news in a 30-minute program. The balance is made up by teases, promotional announcements and advertising FCC (“State of the News Media- Network TV” www.Journalism.org)

• Although many other radio formats have some news content included in their programming, stations that identify as news/talk formats are the primary news source for 15% of radio listeners. (“State of the News Media- Radio” www.Journalism.org)

• From 1994 to 2002, full-time radio newsroom employees dropped 44%, part-time 71%. The number of network TV news correspondents has been cut by a third in the last 20 years. Those who remain have 30% more work. Newspapers now have about 2,200 fewer full-time newsroom employees than in 1990. (http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org)

Ethnic Media Consolidation

• In early February, executives said they would consider selling the $2-billion-a-year Los Angeles–based company. Potential buyers include private-equity investors and major media companies such as CBS, News Corp., Disney, Time Warner (parent of CNNMoney.com and FORTUNE's publisher), and Grupo Televisa, the Mexican television company that owns 11 percent of Univision and provides it with most of its telenovelas. (Source: Univision is ready for its closeup: Let the bidding begin for the star of Spanish-language media. http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/23/news/companies/univision_fortune/ )

• With the network consolidation of UPN and WB, viewers might be seeing less of the black programming those two networks have become known for, reports the Wave.
• UPN and WB have been the two television networks that air prime-time shows featuring predominantly black talent on both sides of the camera. But with the recent merger, it could mean fewer opportunities for black shows to be scheduled in a network time-slot. (Source: What Will the Demise of UPN, WB Mean to TV LA Wave By Andre Herndon and Marisela Santana, Staff Writers http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=3bdefc6555b1fe67b40dda405a3b070)

Ethnic Media Preferences

• Ethnic media (television, radio stations and newspaper) reaches 84% of Californians who self identify as Hispanic, African American or Asian American. (NCM, “Survey 2002”)

• Spanish language media reaches 89% of California Hispanics, 79% of Afrian Americans are reached by African American media and Asian American media reaches 75% of the Asian population most likely to consume ethnic media (primarily Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean populations) (NCM, “Survey 2002”)

• Ethnic radio stations are preferred by 43% of the three ethnic populations surveyed in California, 36% prefer ethnic television stations, networks and programs. (NCM, “Survey 2002”)

• Over half of the Asian and Hispanic population reads newspapers in their own language or read both their own language and English papers. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

• NBC purchased the second largest Spanish language network, Telemundo for $2.7 billion in 2002. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

• In New York, circulation of African American newspapers doubled from 1990 to 2000 at 494,000. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

Latest PEW Survey

• Public attitudes toward the press, which have been on a downward track for years, have become more negative in several key areas. Growing numbers of people question the news media's patriotism and fairness. Perceptions of political bias also have risen over the past two years.
• Public attitudes toward the press, which have been on a downward track for years, have become more negative in several key areas. Growing numbers of people question the news media's patriotism and fairness. Perceptions of political bias also have risen over the past two years.
• The latest Pew survey on the news media finds that the sustained growth in online news consumption has implications for overall newspaper readership. Overall, a third of Americans below age 40 cite the internet as their main source of news, and many of these people are reading newspapers online.
• The poll also finds that the public makes broad distinctions between fact-based and opinion-oriented news outlets. Roughly six-in-ten Americans (61%) say local TV news programs mostly report facts about recent news developments, rather than opinions; smaller majorities see daily newspapers (54%) and nightly network TV news (53%) as mostly fact-based.
• The internet continues to grow as a source of news for Americans. One-in-four (24%) list the internet as a main source of news. Roughly the same number (23%) say they go online for news every day, up from 15% in 2000; the percentage checking the web for news at least once a week has grown from 33% to 44% over the same time period.
• Republicans are now closely divided as to whether the press protects or hurts democracy; 40% say it protects democracy, while 43% believe it hurts democracy. Two years ago, by a fairly sizable margin (44%-31%) more Republicans felt that the press helped democracy.
• Democratic opinion on this measure has been more stable. In the current survey, 56% say the press protects democracy while just 27% say it hurts democracy.

See the full survey, “Public More Critical of Press, But Goodwill Persists: Online Newspaper Readership Countering Print Losses” http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=248

Alternative Sources for News

• Circulation of alternative weeklies (weekly newspapers, often free of charge and local with an emphasis on entertainment and advertising with in depth coverage of fewer stories) more than doubled from 3 million in 1990 to 7.5 million in 2002. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

• The alternative press is no longer a haven for the young – the average reader is between 30 and 40 years old, has a high income and education level. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)

• Between half and 70% of people who go online also get their news there – between 80 to 150 million Americans. (“State of the News Media- Online” www.Journalism.org)

• The most popular online sources for news also have television outlets – CNN and MSNBC attracted over 20 million a month. Yahoo attracted 17 million and AOL ranks fourth, with 16 million. (“State of the News Media- Online” www.Journalism.org)

• Over 80% of online users think news sites they regularly visit are “entirely” or “mostly” reliable.

• Web Logs (blogs) have become a new source of sharing ideas. It is estimated that there are over 4 million blogs online and over half are expected to be abandoned. However, more than half of bloggers are teenagers and 40% are people in their 20’s. (“State of the News Media- Online” www.Journalism.org)

• The number of black newspapers with online presence more than doubled from 2001 to 2003. (“State of the News Media- Ethnic/Alternative” www.Journalism.org)