FCC and the Lack of Diversity

Workplace Buzz on June 7, 2007 7:29 AM

Jim Puzzanghera, for the LA Times, reports a media policy group's study finds a lack of diversity in who holds radio station licenses.

Women and minorities are largely absent from radio station ownership, thanks to a surge in media consolidation.

A public-interest group study made that case Tuesday, arguing that the groups were woefully underrepresented as radio stations increasingly are swept up by big chains headed by white males.

The findings, unveiled in a conference call by a group that included feminist Gloria Steinem and the two Democratic members of the Federal Communications Commission, sparked women's groups, minority activists and Democrats to urge federal officials to refrain from further relaxing restrictions on ownership of broadcast stations by large companies.

The FCC is considering changes to its media ownership rules, and opponents of further consolidation have complained at hearings about a lack of diversity among station owners.

"Women and minorities have been systematically cut off from media ownership," said FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps. "It's not that they're riding in the back of the bus … they're not even on the bus."

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