{"id":285,"date":"2006-11-22T17:03:58","date_gmt":"2006-11-23T00:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=285"},"modified":"2008-11-14T09:30:52","modified_gmt":"2008-11-14T17:30:52","slug":"the-shame-of-the-l-a-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"The Shame Of The L. A. Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An editorial<\/a> in today’s Los Angeles Times argues that the O. J. Simpson mock-fession calamity is proof that media companies should be allowed to grow ever larger, unregulated, and unimpeded by the public interest. While this may be the most perversely distorted logic of the century, it is also appallingly insensitive and overtly self-serving.<\/p>\n

The editors at the Times are so obsessed with securing for themselves the ability to buy more TV stations and newspapers, and to expand their monopolistic ambitions, that they would exploit the controversy surrounding this double murderer to make their case. Their argument is based on the contention that when independent affiliates exercise discretion with regard to which network programs they will carry, they are engaging in censorship. That may be true in some cases, but the Times can’t recognize which is which:<\/p>\n

“…most times when local TV stations pass on network programming it is not for high-minded, public-interest reasons. More typically, they do so out of economic interest (to sell more local ads) or because they want to avoid putting on programs they consider offensive.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is that when stations pass on programming it is never<\/em> for high-minded reasons, it is always<\/em> out of economic interest (the same motivations as the networks). They only avoid offensive programming because of its potential impact on ad revenue. That is, in fact, the reason for the cancellation of the Simpson program. Fox made a calculated decision that airing the show would cost them too much money as they were unable to get advertisers to sponsor it. There was nothing high-minded about it.<\/p>\n

But isn’t that what a free market is all about? That’s precisely the reason that local stations ought to have discretion in what they choose to air. The Times correctly points out that many local stations are not managed locally, but by station groups with distant headquarters. However, instead of advocating more local ownership, the Times suggests regulatory relief to give the networks greater clout. However, the networks will only exacerbate the problem and localism will suffer accordingly.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time<\/a> that the Times has used its own pages<\/a> to promote the economic interests of its parent, The Tribune Company, but it is the first time it has used such convoluted logic that feeds on the scandalous exploitation of such lurid tabloid fare. This is a repulsive attempt at persuasion via negative association and the Times editors should be ashamed.<\/p>\n

The Times’ readers should join the Subscriber Revolt<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An editorial in today’s Los Angeles Times argues that the O. J. Simpson mock-fession calamity is proof that media companies should be allowed to grow ever larger, unregulated, and unimpeded by the public interest. While this may be the most perversely distorted logic of the century, it is also appallingly insensitive and overtly self-serving. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-media","category-general","tag-los-angeles-times"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-4B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=278","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":0},"title":"The Last Straw At The Los Angeles Times","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/7\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wall Street Journal (via L.A. 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Since they didn't provide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":245,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=245","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":3},"title":"Let My Newspapers Go","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/2\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\"American newspapers are passing through an era... in which a corporate ownership model seems increasingly unworkable.\" Tim Rutten The Tribune Company is emblematic of the pitfalls of corporate ownership of media. 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