This study takes a critical empirical approach to examine an ongoing struggle by women and racial minorities to own broadcast radio and television companies in United States. The study focuses on a recent ownership report published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in spring 2014 to illustrate the status of the women and minorities’ ownership as a way of advancing the argument that policy reform is long overdue. In short, the present analysis of the Spring 2014 FCC Ownership Report aims to provide a clearer and broader picture of who owns the media, and according to communication theories and discourse analysis, the creation of language and knowledge. The goal is to become a starting point of an in-depth exploration of why is the current media not serving the unique set of needs, claims, and values of all groups in a society.

1. Broadcast Ownership:
The ongoing struggle for
equal access by women
and minorities
AITZA HADDAD
HOWARD UNIVERSITY RESEARCH WEEK 2015

2. Overview
 Introduction
 Problem Statement
 Research Questions
 Literature Review
 Methodology
 Results
 Conclusion
 References

3. Introduction
 This study takes a critical empirical approach to examine an ongoing struggle by
women and racial minorities to own broadcast radio and television
stations/companies in United States.
 Broadcast stations are those stations using airwaves that were established as a public resource by
the Communications Act of 1934.
 The focus is on the ownership report published by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in spring 2014 to illustrate the status of the women and minorities’
ownership to advance the argument that policy reform is long overdue.
 The goal is to provide a clearer and broader picture of who owns the media, and according to
communication theories and discourse analysis, the creation of language and knowledge
 And to become a starting point of an in-depth exploration of why is the current media not serving
the unique set of needs, claims, and values of all groups in a society.

4. Problem Statement
 The Communications Act of 1934 determined that those utilizing the public airwaves
should do so with the “necessity, interest and convenience” of the public in mind.
 The standard was vague and led to the creation of policies seeking to specifically protect the
public interest.
 This was followed by a deregulation and free market competition era, which in the 1980s
made the media ownership situation worst;
 By the end of the decade, the FCC had already relaxed the elimination of the multiple ownership
rule, the radio duopoly rule, and the relaxation of the one-to-a-market rule, which had a
tremendous impact on the vulnerable communities of the nation.
 The Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with the expectation of
transforming the US telecommunications policy landscape.
 The rapid technological advances and business process transformations led to the emergence of
numerous diverse issues, unforeseen by the legislative and judicial branches.

5. Research Questions
RQ1: Who owns the media in United States?
 RQ2: How is diversity of opinion in the marketplace of ideas enhanced,
promoted, and maintained, with the necessity, interest and convenience of
the public, when:
 There is no gender or racial/ethnical diversity in ownership;
 And when so few media corporations are in control of the production and
distribution of the language, meaning, and content used to distribute
messages to the masses?

6. Literature Review
 The 1950’s and 1960’s cases of Lamar Life Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1965) and United Church of
Christ v. FCC (1966) uncovered serious social concerns about the lack of diversity in broadcast news
and media ownership (Blevins, et al.,2010)
 These concerns respond to the idea that no minority representation in media ownership would be
translated into no diversity in broadcast news and public affairs programming
 More than 50 years later, with females making almost 50.8% (USCB Quickfacts, 2014, para.10), and minorities
approximately 36.6 %, of the total US population (Wihbey, 2012, para.1), we still have the same concerns (Byerly,
2011).
 In a world where people rely largely on what the mass-media world communicates, represents, or
omits, representations do matter because they produce specific and anticipated outcomes (Meyers,
2013)
 The creation of stereotypes as an outcome is promoted by a shift in the discourse of the content of news
media, which went from discussing long-term social and economic impacts, to how business merger affects
the immediate price of a product.
 The treatment of individuals more as consumers than as citizens turns challenging the leading of critical discussion
about media ownership, media regulation, and business practices (Campbell, et al., 2011).

7. Literature Review
The mass-media world is “heavily censored by those who own or advertise in them”
(Parenti, 2006, p.70)
 Images and definitions in the US media have been influenced by the historic marginalization of
minority groups from the nation’s power-process where the media was in part a reflection of the
nation’s power-process and the easiest portrayal of the “invisibles” was to have a simple-minded
reified image, which today we talk about as a stereotype
In United States free speech and free press is privileged at the top of citizens’ rights. Thus,
media plays a particularly important role (Campbell, et al., 2011).
 However, when it comes to media ownership levels, women have been historically lower than
males, and minorities considerably lower than those claiming to be White.
 Even more, by the year 2000 “eight corporate conglomerates controlled most of the national media” (p.60)
in US, and these owners did “not hesitate to exercise control over news content” (p.61).

8. Literature Review
 By 2007, women-owned firms in US represented only 28.8% of approximately 27,092,908
 Non-White firm owners represented less than 25% (USCB Quickfacts, 2014).
 Even though “over the past 10 years, between 70 and 76% of all journalism and mass
communications graduates have been women,” men still “[represented] 60% of newspaper
employees, write 80% of the newspaper op-eds, and author most of the articles in “thought
leader” magazines” (Susan Antilla, 2009, para.13 and 15).
 Although recently updated data show that by 2012, females 16 and older represented
41.7% of the employees working in management, professional, and related occupations, the
35.1% that males represented embodied the most crucial positions in the decision-making
process, which are the ones shaping the messages transmitted to the masses, and
consequently, molding their perceptions of the world.

9. Methodology
 Study uses quantitative research methods to determine:
 The number of Full Power Television Stations (FPTVS), Low Power Television Stations (LPTVS), Class A Stations,
FM Stations, and AM Stations own by (a) Women and by minorities; (b) Women, and are located within the top
10, 50, and 100 market; and (c) Minorities, and are located within the top 10, 50, and 100 market.
 How the information contained in the Report is organized, and in this sense, how easy it is to read in terms of
transparency and accountability, and thus, accuracy and reliability.
 The data about media ownership in US was extracted from the 2014 FCC Report.
 The data was then categorized by gender, and by race and ethnicity into Excel spreadsheets, and
divided into FPTVS, LPTVS, Class A Stations, FM Stations, and AM Stations.
 The data was also analyzed in conjunction with other supporting documents;
 Such as the 2012 Report on Ownership of Commercial Broadcast Stations, the Spring 2014 Nielsen Radio
Market Survey Population, Rankings, and the Fall 2013 Arbitron Market Schedule & Populations Ranking Report.

10. Results
 There are 11,344 stations (6,614 FM stations and 4,730 AM) in US.
 Only 693 stations, or 6.1%, are owned by women,
 And only 1,371 stations (684 FM and 687 AM), or 12.1%, are owned by a member of a
minority group
 Among these, only 4 stations, or 0.6%, are located in cities within the top 10 ranked markets.
94%
6%
Males Females
88%
12%
White Non-White

11. Results
 Lack of organization, incomplete data, and “hidden” data
 A significant number of stations are not complying with the legal requirement of filling Form
323
The 2014 Report fails in assessing the impact of Local Marketing Agreements, especially when
it comes to the minority owned stations
 How many minority owners are bound by agreements in which although the station is reported to be
minority and female owned, in reality are run and managed by an entity that does not necessarily
represents minorities or women?
 Are these agreements counted in the numbers, and if so, how?
 The 2014 Report fails to connect recent data with data collected in 2009 and 2012
 The Report does not include the data collected on 2009.
 Because there is no analysis of these three sets of data together, it is challenging to know whether or
not things have changed, and if so, how.

12. Results
 The structure used to report the results, as well as the categories provided to collect and determine
the ownership’s race and ethnicity are troubling and ineffective.
 The introduction aggregates ownership of “racial minorities,” rather than providing an accurate breakdown
by racial/ethnic category – readers have to dig deep into the data and continuously move around details.
 On page 4, point 6, the 2014 Report provides information on “Broadcast ownership and ethnicity” by
dividing the results in “Hispanic/Latino persons collectively or individually” and “Non-Hispanic/Latino
collectively individually.” However, point 7 provides information on “Broadcast ownership and race” by
dividing the results by “Racial minorities collectively or individually” and “Whites collectively and
individually.”
 Enumerates “Black/African Americans, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders, Asians, American
Indian/Alaska Natives, and Persons of two or more races” within the category of minorities, but leaves
Hispanics/Latinos apart.
 Further analysis revealed that in all instances where a station reported to be owned by a Hispanic/Latino, they would
also identified themselves as “Whites,” which creates the illusion that Hispanics/Latinos are not minorities, and spoils
the amount of “White” owned stations.

13. Conclusion
 The lack of diversity in media ownership represents not only a lack of presence of
women and minorities, but also a lack of voice and of accurate representations.
 The noncompliance of Form 323, as well as the disconnection from the data of
previous reports, and the vague, confusing and over inclusive categories, are clear
demonstrations of how obfuscated the data of the 2014 Report can be, and thus, why
the 2014 Report could be challenged for inaccuracy, and therefore, unreliability.
 Difficult to be accurately analyzed in regard to how well broadcast stations are serving
women and minority groups in the nation
 By providing a clearer and broader picture of how media ownership currently looks,
this study aims to underscore the need for better enforcement of Form 323, as well as
for more transparent, and accountable ways to create and provide results and analyses
of such data.

14. References
 Broadcast Ownership. The Communication Review, 13(3), 216-238.
 Byerly, C. M. (2011). Behind the scenes of women's broadcast ownership. The Howard Journal of
Communications, 22(1), 24-42.
 Campbell, R., Martin, C. & Fabos, B. (2011). Media essentials: A brief introduction. Boston, MA:
Bedford/St.Martin’s.
 Federal Communications Commission (2014). Low power television (LPTV) service. Retrieved from FCC website:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/low-power-television-lptv-service
 Meyers, M. (2013). The missing Black woman in the news: An introduction. African American Women in the
News: Gender, Race, and Class in Journalism. Routledge.
 Parenti, M. (2006). Mass-media: For the many, by the few. Beyond borders: Thinking critically about global
issues. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. 60-72.
 Wihbey, J. (2012). Census Bureau: Minorities in US growing toward a majority. Journalist’s Resources; Harvard’s
Shorenstein Center and Carnegie-Knight.

15. QUESTIONS