Television stations could be good for newspapers

In class we have discussed the drawbacks of media conglomerates, both on a national and on a local scale.

On a national scale, media companies that own several television stations, radio stations, newspapers and other types of media make it difficult for smaller companies to compete.

On a local scale, having a single company own the television station, the radio station and the newspaper limits the amount of information presented to the audience. Instead of sending out three reporters who find three different angles to a story, the company can send one to cover all three genres. This eliminates different viewpoints of the story. It would also be difficult for the audience to determine the accuracy and objectivity of the reporting, because there is nothing to compare it with.

This appears to be a problem that should be avoided. However, a recent op-ed article in the New York Times advised that local television stations could be the savior of regional newspapers.

Newspapers are becoming more of a novelty in America than a staple to daily life. As a result, newspaper subscription numbers are down. People are turning to online resources for news, and advertisers are turning from print media to the internet with their business.

In the article The Daily Show by Kevin J. Martin, Martin states that at least 300 daily papers have stopped publishing over the past 30 years.

He points to televion as a way to save newspapers. Martin argues that companies who own newspapers in the 20 largest cities should be permitted to purchase one tv or radio station within their community.

Martin goes on to argue that not allowing newspapers to own television stations could hurt the quality of news the paper is able to produce. A television station could bring in revenue to help run the newspaper and allow journalists to do more in-depth research, or allow the company to hire more journalists.

This appears to be a catch-22 in media today. It is a logical worry that having a sinle company own a lot of the local media market could result in non-objective reporting or incomplete stories. People could be less informed than if several companies owned different aspects of the media. However, without the revenue and cooperation of the media outlets working together, one company may not have enough resources to produce a quality product.