On Today's Big Story

Today the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by media conglomerates to overturn an appellate ruling which slows the concentration of media outlets. (What did YOU think I was going to talk about?)

The high court let stand a lower court decision blocking the implementation of Federal Communications Commission regulations that would have allowed media companies to own more television and radio stations in the same market as well as permit newspaper and broadcast cross-ownership.

In fact the Scandal du Jour is one of the syptoms of the concentration of newspaper, radio and television outlets in fewer and fewer hands. A multiplicity of voices is vital for the press to be a truly effective instrument in the never-ending quest to expose that which the powers that be would wish to be concealed.

When the media ARE the powers that be where does that leave us?

I mean sure blogs are great (talk about multiple voices!) but with rare exceptions bloggers do not have the resources to do original reporting, and therefore must rely on the media for original source material.

32 million Americans read blogs, that leaves about 200 million Americans who get their information elswhere, newspapers, national mews, and (God help us) local news.

And it's especially at the local news level that media agglomeration is especially egregious.

Which is why any move which slows this trend is big news indeed.