A couple of months ago I wrote a piece commenting on the proposed sale of WTVJ in Miami to its fiercest rival in the market, WPLG (Into Thin Air/7.17.08). Basically, I said that it's criminal that one network affiliate in a top-20 market can be allowed to swallow another whole and potentially put its news department out of business -- a news department with almost 60 years of service to the community. The deal is being proposed by the two companies that own the stations: NBC and Post Newsweek, respectively.
Since word of the deal went public though, there's been a backlash to it by many in South Florida, including quite a few local lawmakers and congresspersons. They've taken up the mantle of fighting for WTVJ's survival by writing to the FCC and demanding that it stop the sale.
And now it looks like the effort to "Save WTVJ" might be gaining some traction.
According to inside sources and confirmed by WTVJ's own Human Resources staff, the Justice Department is looking into the sale and is concerned that if it goes through, it will leave WPLG-Post Newsweek with too much control of the market. That logic peaks the needle hard on the "No Shit" meter, but it's good to see that at least they're not overlooking the obvious issues.
When one company owns several media outlets -- particularly news outlets -- in one area, it's bad for the average person because it means that the flow of vital information becomes homogenized. You see and hear only what the company with the most money wants you to see and hear. When the company with all that cash is using it to buy out its competition -- well, that's truly detrimental to the people the media are supposed to serve.
Which is why it's a good thing that the government's doing its job for a change and taking a hard look at how this sale would affect WTVJ and WPLG's employees and viewers, rather than just letting the media giants that own these stations steamroll right past clearer heads.
Or at the very least, ones that don't have dollar signs dancing around in them.
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