Rushkoff: Removing FCC public service requirements made TV news sensationalist
Douglas Rushkoff · #124 Douglas Rushkoff: The Perils of Modern Media · Nov 16, 2021 · at 32:37
Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff discusses how deregulation and commercial incentives transformed American broadcast news from public service journalism into sensationalist entertainment.
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“In the United States. Anyway, news was a requirement to have An FCC television or radio license. You had to do a certain number of hours of news as part of your public affairs obligation, right? When we took that away, then news was no longer a mandatory obligation, and it turned into, if you're going to keep any news, it's for money. It's for profit. That's when you start hearing all the music and all the coverage. That's when news became so much more sensationalist, because now it was part of the competitive enterprise rather than The public service mission of these companies.”
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