Media ownership reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Media ownership reform - Research Paper Example During early 1940s, different larger media companies began to gain much power and influence than others driving the fear of monopoly in the industry. The federal government instituted a series of reforms in the industry to curb the trend and ensure that the field remained competitive and diverse as much as possible. The reforms worked to check the growing trend of monopoly that was evident in the industry. To check this, the government created rules to ensure that there was competition in the industry as well as ensure the control of monopoly. Many regulations were proposed and later on passed into laws to check the ownership of media houses. Most of the regulations instituted aimed to ensure that no media house had greater control of a certain market by ensuring that they had access to a certain percentage of the market. Further, the rules provided that the media houses owned and controlled a predefined number of communication and broadcast stations2. All these regulations were on t he constitutional basis of ensuring that the American citizen had the desired kind of access to information as much as possible. ... Since its creation, the agency has the responsibility of reporting to the congress directly. Under ownership, the FCC has the mandate to regulate the number of media outlets that are owned by a single media house. The main reason behind the creation of the FCC was to regulate interstate and foreign communications by wire and radio to ensure that all processes in the area were at the interests of the public. However, as the industry has evolved over time, the commission has been delegated the responsibility of regulating radio, television, and satellite communication, a responsibility that the commission shares with state agencies. To accomplish its mandate, the FCC was allowed the powers to control the assigning of broadcast spectrum and frequencies to various services, licensing providers in the industry and enforcing laws that relate to communications. The commission has the authority to regulate inappropriate and illegal material broadcast such as cigarette advertisements and othe r programs that relate to aspects of campaigning and child programming. This authority gives the commission more powers to regulate media ownership3. Section II: The Problems with the Current Media Ownership Rules The current media ownership rules provided by the regulatory agency have been under scrutiny on the provisions and capabilities to ensure efficient control of the industry. The industry has grown rapidly over time with changes in technology and there are questions as to whether the regulation of the industry is necessary and efficient in accommodating and promoting such changes. The FCC has proposed various amendments on its provisions to see the deregulation of the industry,