The question -- as it always is -- will be which side is the administration on: its corporate donors or its campaign promises?
By David Sirota, Open Left
Posted on December 10, 2009, Printed on December 10, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.openleft.com/144490/
Last week on my weekday radio show on AM760 here in Colorado, I discussed the Comcast-NBC merger with Free Press executive director Josh Silver. As you can hear here, Josh makes clear that the Obama administration will now have to put up or shut up on its progressive rhetoric about media consolidation. And the question - as it always is - will be which side is the administration on - its corporate donors or its campaign promises?
The Hill newspaper lays out the choice:
The proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal will be the first big test of the Obama administration's stance on the hot-button issue of media consolidation.It could also put the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress at odds with a few of their largest supporters...
The proposed deal faces significant regulatory hurdles, especially from an administration that has openly said it will uphold anti-trust laws, particularly in the media industry.
On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama talked about the need to strengthen diversity in television, cable and radio programming.
Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski, who was appointed by Obama and is a close personal friend of the president, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that he would pay attention to "excessive" media consolidation. The agency will begin a formal media ownership review next year.
Free Press has the definitive run down on why the administration's approval of this deal would be bad public policy. As the Hill newspaper makes clear, approval would also contradict some of the president's most explicit promises. So in the coming weeks and months, we're really going to see which side the administration is on. Stay tuned.
David Sirota was the top spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee. He is currently writing a book on the middle class economic squeeze for Crown Publishers. You can contact him at Davidsirota.com.
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