Burnt Orange Report

Unholy Alliance

Guest Contributor Nate Nance

I like reading lots of different blogs, some regularly, some every few weeks or whenever I just happen to link to them. TVNewser is one I don't go to very often, but they always have the best stories on Fox News. Today is no exception.

Somehow, Clear Channel Communications and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. have reached an agreement where Fox News would be the sole news provider for all of Clear Channel's stations. In return, Fox News Radio gets access to news and information from Clear Channel. I'm pretty sure this is a sign of the apocalypse or something.

The Wall Street Journal got the scoop, which is testament to the news section's resolve and professionalism despite an editorial page that is willing to make up stuff and sell ad space for videos about the Clinton Murders.

This move automatically makes Fox News a major competitor with ABC and CBS. For all of mainstream media's faults, they are still more reliable than Fox News and that is a dangerous thing. I really wish more people understood the problems with media consolidation and were taking steps to stop it.

I work for a newspaper that is owned by Cox Newspapers. To some extent, several publications being owned by a single entity can make news more accessible to more people.

But when some people (like Rupert Murdoch) want to change public opinion, they have the means to do it. By owning so many media outlets, Murdoch has no credible threat in the market to force him to adhere to journalistic standards. And other news outlets see Murdoch's success and they try to clone it. Pretty soon, no one is debating, they are all speaking in one voice. The absolute worst thing in a democracy is for everyone to be speaking in one voice. There must be dissension and debate for democracy to flourish.

I don't think the Republic is going to fall tomorrow. The Founding Fathers set up a pretty complicated system that has only gotten moreso over time. It will take a long time for this to become a dictatorship. But the path to it seems pretty clear and we can stop it before it ever gets that far.

Nate Nance is a sports/news clerk for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He is also writer/editor of Common Sense a Texas-based Democratic Web log.