Since 1996 radio ownership
deregulation,
Clear Channel has
come to control almost a third of all US radio stations. CEO Lowry Mays has
said, "If anyone said we were in the radio business, it wouldn't be someone
from our company. We're not in the business of providing news and information.
We're not in the business of providing well-researched music. We're simply
in the business of selling our customers products." To this end, they have
been lobbying hard in DC for media ownership deregulation. I printed out
their website and made some comments. Note the blandness and homogeneity
of the design. This is their cookie cutter vision for the future of
media.
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