SBC woes

[Fairlight]

Y'all catch dis heeyah?  Rick Mitchell been jivin' 'bout like:
> 
> As a former Radio Guy who sees a lot of stations in a lot of markets,
> everyone talks about Clear Channel, but they only put on automation systems
> rather than try to be local.

It's not a matter of how local they try to be.  It's a matter of how much
of a monopoly over certain aspects of our media they control nationwide by
ownership of the outlets.  If they -want- to, they can control a huge swath
of the media, unilaterally, at as complete a level as they choose within
their holdings.  The point that they may not have chosen to exercise that
option [yet] is moot.

There's a -reason- legislation was passed ages ago to prevent this kind of
thing.  It's too bad nobody in government seems to remember that.

I imagine it goes rather like this when they do:  "Oh yeah, protecting the
public interest.  Right.  *two second pause*  Merger/acquisition approved."

Nope, not cynical here.  Not at all.  If I sound bitter, sprinkle
NutraSweet[tm] on your monitor.  Oh wait--the whole Aspartame debacle
and supplanting of saccharine was the result of exactly the kind of
corporate-interest-serving government about which I'm not being cynical.
I'm sorry, my mistake.  

m->