Howard Dean opposing Cass Sunstein

The FCC recently ruled that cable and phone based broadband providers be classified as information rather than telecommunications services. This is the first step in a process that could allow Internet providers to arbitrarily limit the content that users can access. The phone and cable industries could have the power to discriminate against content that they don’t control or — even worse — simply don’t like. The media conglomerates now dominate almost half of the markets around the country, meaning Americans get less independent and frequently less dependable news, views and information. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson spoke of the fear that economic power would one day try to seize political power. No consolidated economic power has more opportunity to do this than the consolidated power of media. - Howard Dean

Response:

Under the strict regulation of media ownership we had 20 years ago, the regime to which you’d like to return, we could only net television news from three networks, all of which had exactly the same, elitist, left-of-center, Ivy League orientation. Deregulation brought us Murdoch, the only news organization with a different spin. As you would clearly like to shut down the Murdoch empire, you’re actually an advocate of less diversity of opinion in the media. Bravo for you - choice is confusing, and it’s much better to have a Big Brother in Washington telling us how to think. - Richard Bennett of Omphalos

Cass-Sunnstein Inspired Response:

In a market that is completely consolidated, the Corporation, unlike Government, has no accountability to the people for what they do. If they abuse their power, the citizenry has no alternative. In other words, while the citizenry can vote GWB out of the Oval Office, they cannot vote Rupert Murdoch out of his Chief Executive Office. If you look at Public Media in other Western Democracies (CBC, BBC, and even NPR), you’ll find a media that owes more allegience to the public welfare than the bottom line. As a result, you’ll find these media to be more critical of our government than our increasingly centrailized corporate media is of ours. - Kilroy was Here

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Howard Dean opposing Cass Sunstein

Phone, internet and TV services try to do it all

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