Urban studies expert critiques mass media

Clear Channel Communications is affiliated witb some 1,270 radio stations and 39 television stations nationwide, according to Hoover's online business index.

For New York University professor of Sociology Eric Klinenberg, statistics like these are alarming.

At last night's Urban Studies 20th Annual Public Lecture, Klinenberg spoke about how the consolidation of major media has led to a decrease in the number and influence of local news organizations nationwide.

In a lecture entitled "Fighting for Air: Big Media and the Asphyxiation of Local News," Klinenberg examined the power held by companies that own large numbers of media outlets nationwide.

"I find it exceedingly difficult to understand the implications of all these things," he said. "I just get lost following which big media company buys which big media company -- it's a very hard thing to get your hands around."

Klinenberg focused on a couple of organizations in particular, including radio industry giant Clear Channel Communications. He cited the January 2002 derailment of a train carrying anhydrous ammonia in Minot, N.D.

City officials tried to call one of Minot's main radio stations, which happened to be owned by Clear Channel, to spread word of the disaster. But no one picked up the phone, because the show on the air at the time was coming from elsewhere in the country, so no one was in the studios.

"Here's a pretty terrible case of what can go wrong when you have empty studios and prepackaged, digitally tracked communications replacing what might be originally produced, locally produced content," he said.

Klinenberg also criticized a growing trend in local television news, whereby stations use so-called "Video News Releases" from companies as footage for stories instead of doing their own reporting.

"You get stories where a VNR is released and dozens of local television stations in the country will air the story," he said.

Klinenberg was chosen last spring to be this year's speaker by the current senior class of urban studies majors. Those students are now in the midst of their senior seminar projects, and this speech was intended to help with their research.

"I actually think it was one of our best lectures," Urban Studies Program Co-Director Elaine Simon said. "The whole idea of localism, of what's unique about a particular place -- that's what makes cities vital and vibrant."

Sociology Professor David Grazian, whose course on media and popular culture focuses on cultural products in cities, was also impressed.

"I think Klinenberg is dead-on," he said. "These issues are extremely important -- it's absolutely clear that media attention is completely focused on national politics, national music, national film culture, and there's little, if any, attention given to local cultural events."

Some did not share the faculty's enthusiasm, however, in part because of the length of the lecture.

"The topic was interesting, but I think it kind of got a little repetitive for a while," College sophomore Kayla Morrow said.

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