ABSTRACT
Neoliberal economics have prevailed in the US news media since the time of Ronald Reagan. These policies have diminished the quantity and quality of independent, free-flowing political information and precipitated a great decline of local print and broadcast news, the control of cable and broadcast television by a precious few, and a dangerously concentrated system of digital media outlets. Although the Federal Communications Commission has justified this consolidation as furthering “market efficiency,” it has eroded citizens’ ability to govern themselves. As a result, the news less and less resembles a public good, one that establishes a common foundation for political action. Here, I propose a handful of reforms to ensure that the FCC serves the “public interest” per its original congressional mandate. I recommend that the FCC return to seven commissioners (from its current five members), as it was from 1934 until 1983, and that commissioners’ terms be lengthened from five to seven years. I also recommend that the Department of Justice use antitrust legislation to break up the largest media oligopolies (such as Comcast, NewsCorp, Google, and Facebook) and return to a policy of net neutrality.
