Communication breakdown: how St. Louis's health media market declined.

• Author: Feldman, Brian S.
• Position: Telecommunications Act of 1996

In June 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Communications Act, a bill that prohibited radio, telephone, and other media companies from owning more than one broadcast license in a single community. A more diverse set of owners, stations, and channels, Roosevelt reasoned, would yield a wider set of program and service viewpoints, and would protect against the concentration of speech and economic power.

The result was that locally owned radio stations, locally owned newspapers, and, later, locally owned TV stations flourished across America. In St. Louis, the largest radio stations-- such as KM OX and KWK--produced live programming of such high quality, often with full-studio orchestras, that their shows were broadcast nationally in the 1940s and '50s.

In combination with the era's "fair trade" and anti-chain-store legislation, these policies also benefited local ad agencies and sustained local media outlets. Competition among local businesses meant more advertising dollars, money that was then distributed among the city's many local radio and TV stations, which, in turn, supported programming and operational expenses. Over the next half century, a virtuous cycle of money and voice took hold, with local companies hiring local agencies to advertise on local media stations.

In an era when national broadcasting in other countries dominated--like the BBC in England--this media environment also democratized public speech. It provided local alternatives to the "national" networks NBC, CBS, and, later, ABC. In 1975, the FCC bolstered these ownership laws, and banned a media company from owning both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same community.

In the early 1980s, however, changes in antitrust enforcement set in motion a series of mergers and acquisitions. These deals saw the growth of large retail discount chains that either purchased or elbowed past locally owned stores. In cities across the U.S., this reduction in competition diminished local spending on advertising, and reduced the amount of money available for local programming.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, championed by the Clinton administration, dealt the next big blow to a vibrant local media environment. Proponents of Clinton's bill argued that the ownership rules ossified competition and prevented the entry of new firms into both the telecommunications and broadcasting businesses. "We will help to create an open marketplace," Clinton said during the bill-signing...