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Chicago’s Media: Big, But Not Diverse
Big, But Not Diverse
A Report of the Benton Foundation for the
Federal Communications Commission Media Ownership Hearing
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Chicago, IL
(see full report)
Executive Summary
Chicago has a rich media history, having been the center of the emerging broadcast industry in the early 1920’s, home to the first radio station to broadcast the World Series, the “Chicago School of Television,” and the city that pioneered the daytime-talk show format. Chicago has been an innovator and provider of high-quality content when new capacity demands new content. The question now is: As media migrate toward digital technology – in radio and television broadcasting, in cable and satellite, and on the Internet – is Chicago media situated to be an innovative leader again?
The Tribune Company dominates the Chicago media landscape, owning the area’s most-read newspaper, most listened-to radio station, popular TV stations, the area’s only 24 hour local cable news channel and more. Past the Tribune, Chicago media outlets are mainly owned by other large conglomerates like News Corp, GE, CBS, Clear Channel and Bonneville International.
The city will play a new part in media history on September 20, 2007 as the Federal Communications Commission holds its fifth of six planned public hearings on media ownership rules at the headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition on Chicago’s South Side. At this hearing, the FCC is seeking public input on whether it should make changes to rules that determine how many media outlets any one company can own.
To inform the FCC’s debate, the Benton Foundation presents this survey of recent research on the state of the media in Chicago, showing that minority and female ownership of broadcast media is already dismally poor; that ownership of the media is already concentrated in too few hands; and that the media has been widely criticized for failing to serve the community adequately. Among the major findings highlighted are:
Ownership of Chicago’s Broadcast Media Does Not Reflect the City’s Diversity
According to recent research conducted by Free Press,(1) first published in its studies Off The Dial and Out of the Picture:(2)
- Racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly two-thirds of the population in the city of Chicago yet own only 5 percent of Chicago’s full-power commercial radio and television stations.
- Among the nation’s 22 largest radio markets, Chicago has the lowest level of minority ownership. Among the 10 largest radio markets, Chicago is the only market with single digit levels of minority ownership.
- Women own just 6 percent of Chicago’s full-power commercial radio and television stations, despite comprising over half the population.
Media Ownership Is Too Concentrated and Predominantly Non-Local
According to recent research conducted by The Consumer Federation of America and Free Press:(3)
- "Four firms control 58 percent of the entire local news market in Chicago. If the FCC were to further dismantle its few remaining rules mitigating media consolidation, the top four firms would likely increase their share to nearly 75 percent, with a single firm controlling one-third of the news audience."
- "Together, four companies (Clear Channel, CBS, Tribune Company and Bonneville International) control over two-thirds of the revenue share in the Chicago market and capture over half of the entire Chicago radio audience."
- "Non-local owners control nearly two-thirds of Chicago’s commercial radio stations."
- "The Tribune Company controls nearly one-fifth of the local news market for the entire Chicago area. The FCC is currently reviewing the sale of the Tribune, calling into question the company’s grandfathered newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership in Chicago."
Chicago’s Mainstream Media Has Been Criticized for Failing to Adequately Serve and Represent the Community
According to Chicago’s Community Media Workshop and the University of Wisconsin-Madison NewsLab:
- "Pressure on the bottom line has resulted in many news outlets closing Chicago bureaus and cutbacks in the national and local outlets that remain."(4)
- "Chicago’s commercial broadcast television stations aired, on average, only 29 seconds of election coverage druing a typical 30-minute newscast aired as the 2006 election season kicked-off. On these same stations, the average sports story is over 95 seconds long."
- "In the weeks before the 2006 election, Chicago’s commercial broadcast television stations aired, on average, 2 minutes and 2 seconds of election coverage compared to 3 minutes and 57 seconds of political advertising during a typical 30 minute newscast."
- "In the Fall of 2006, 73% of election stories were strategy and horse race coverage."
- "On local television newscasts in Chicago, for every one woman who is heard in a story, there are two men. For every non-White person who is heard in a story, there are three White people."
- "Only 45% of every local news program is devoted to news stories. Sports and weather take up between 9-10% of the time each, on average, and commercials take up almost 30% of the time. Five percent of each newscast is devoted to promoting the newscast itself."
Combined, this research shows that the FCC must do more to encourage minority and female media ownership, to prevent more consolidation in the media marketplace, and to hold broadcasters accountable to serving the public. At the very least, the FCC needs to monitor fulfillment of the localism principle more intently before loosening media ownership rules and, potentially, allowing increased concentration of media ownership in Chicago. In fact, it needs to enforce the rules it has had in place for decades.
I. The Federal Communications Commission Is Reviewing Ownership
II. Chicago’s Diverse Population Must Be Heard
III. Chicago Made Broadcast History
IV. Chicago’s Public Broadcasting History
V. Tribune Company: The Advantages of Cross-ownership
VI. Tribune Company Sale and the Public Interest
VII. Chicago’s Media Ownership: Big, But Not Diverse
VIII. Chicago Television Station Ownership
IX. Chicago Radio Station Ownership
X. Chicago Newspaper Ownership
XI. Mainstream Chicago Media Journalism is Shrinking
XII. Chicago Television Stations Fail to Provide Adequate Election Coverage
XIII. Local Television Newscasts are Not Adequately Serving to the Community
XIV. The Chicago Message: Protect Diversity, Hold Broadcasters Accountable
Case study -- WVON: Why Media Ownership Matters
1. Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. More information is available at www.freepress.net.
2. Turner, S. Derek. “Off The Dial: Female and Minority Radio Station Ownership in the United States” Free Press. June 2007. http://www.freepress.net/docs/off_the_dial.pdf; Turner, S. Derek and Mark Cooper. “Out of The Picture: Minority & Female TV Station Ownership in the United States” Free Press. October 2006. http://www.stopbigmedia.com/files/out_of_the_picture.pdf; Information for Chicago is available from Free Press at http://www.freepress.net/docs/who_owns_chicago.pdf
3. Cooper, Mark N., “The Case Against Media Consolidation: Evidence on Concentration, Localism and Diversity”, Donald McGannon Center for Communucations Research, Fordham University, January 2007; Information detailed at http://www.freepress.net/docs/who_owns_chicago.pdf
4. Goldsborough, Bob. “Media Landscape Overview” from Getting On the Air, Online and Into Print 2008. Community Media Workshop (2007). www.newstips.org