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Abstract a Case Study of Cross-Ownership Waivers

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Abstract a Case Study of Cross-Ownership Waivers ABSTRACT A CASE STUDY OF CROSS-OWNERSHIP WAIVERS: FRAMING NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF RUPERT MURDOCH’S REQUESTS TO KEEP THE NEW YORK POST by Rachel L. Seeman Media ownership is an important regulatory issue that is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC, Congress, court and public interest groups share varying viewpoints concerning what the ownership limits should be and whether companies should be granted a waiver to be excused from the rules. News Corporation is one media firm that has a history of seeking these waivers, particularly for the New York Post and television stations in same community. This study conducted a qualitative framing analysis of news articles from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to determine if the viewpoints expressed by the editorial boards were reflected in reports on News Corp.’s attempt to receive cross-ownership waivers. The analysis uncovered ten frames the newspapers used to assist in reporting the events and found that 80% of these frames did parallel the positions the paper’s editorial boards took concerning ownership waivers. A CASE STUDY OF CROSS-OWNERSHIP WAIVERS: FRAMING NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF RUPERT MURDOCH’S REQUESTS TO KEEP THE NEW YORK POST A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Communications by Rachel Leianne Seeman Miami University Oxford, OH 2009 Advisor: __________________________________ (Dr. Bruce Drushel) Reader: __________________________________ (Dr. Howard Kleiman) Reader: __________________________________ (Dr. Douglas Shumavon) Dedication…………………………………………………………………………….…..iv Chapter One: Framing Newspaper Coverage of Media Policy Introduction.……………………………………………………………………… 1 The Research Question & Subsidiary Questions.…………………………..……..1 Literature Review………..……………….………………………………………..2 Case Study Overview…..……………….………………………………………..15 Method……..……………….……………………………………...…………….19 Chapter Preview……..……………….……………………….………………….22 Chapter Two: History of the Cross-ownership Waiver and the New York Post Congress and Regulatory Agencies……………………………………………...24 A Closer Look at the Federal Communications Commission....…………...……28 Murdoch Granted Wavier for Post ...……………………………………………32 Congress forces Murdoch to Sell……………………………………………...…36 Murdoch Repurchases the Post……………………………………………….….39 The Chris-Craft Merger…………………………………………………….…....45 Chapter Three: Understanding the Theory and Method The Framing Theory……………………………………………………………..50 Method……………………………………………………………………...……55 Chapter Four: Frames Found in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Inclusion and Exclusion of Facts………………………………………………...58 WSJ Frames……………………………………………………………………...61 NYT Frames……………………………………………………………………...69 Comparing the Frames…………………………………………………………...75 Chapter Five: Conclusions and Evaluation of Study Framing Functions.………………………………………………………………77 Exploring the Reasons behind the Frames……………………………………….80 Prominence………………………………………………………………………85 Newspaper Frames and Editorial Positions……………………………………...85 Study Limitations and Future Research…………………………………….……88 Implications of Results…………………………………………………………..91 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………93 ii References.……………………………………………………………………………….94 Appendix A: Current FCC Ownership Rules………………..………………………106 Appendix B: FCC Organizational Chart…………………………………….….……109 Appendix C: FCC Decision-Making Process………………………..….….…………111 Appendix D: Articles and Sources……………………………………….……………113 Wall Street Journal………………………………………….…….…………….113 New York Times………………………………………………….…………….119 Appendix E: Frame Timeline………………………………………………………….129 iii DEDICATION I dedicate this to my loving husband, Nathan, my awesome parents, Tricia and Jeff, and other family and friends who supported me throughout my graduate studies. Your faith in me is the reason this research became a reality. Thank you! iv CHAPTER ONE Framing Newspaper Coverage of Media Policy Introduction It has not yet been a century since the Federal Communications Commission was established by the United States Congress to regulate America’s broadcasters. Media ownership is one of numerous regulatory topics the FCC deals with on a regular basis. It is also one of the most debated issues between the public and other policy shapers. No one has been able to determine a limit on how much is too much for one person/company to own that satisfies everyone. Ownership is an important regulatory issue since it has an impact on how a company conducts its business and serves the public. For media outlets, this may include influences on content, how the information is publicized, the concepts disseminated in the marketplace of ideas, and the overall market structure (Warf, 2007, 102 and 91; Croteau &Hoynes, 2006, 144). In the last 20 years broadcast media ownership rules have been revised to both reduce and increase the limits imposed on media owners. However, the rules are not set in stone per se since media owners can apply for permission from the Federal Communications Commission to bypass the rules if they have already reached an existing limit and wish to continue expansion beyond the cap. This process is completed in the form of an amendment, exception, or waiver. This study will focus on one media company, News Corporation, and its history of cross-ownership waivers, specifically focusing on its attempt to maintain control of The New York Post. This study will analyze articles from two newspapers with polar opinions on media ownership, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, to understand what frames are used in the coverage of these events. The frames will be compared to understand what language and tone is most commonly associated with them. The Research Question Are there similarities between the positions the editorial boards of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have taken regarding media ownership and the frames that appear in the newspaper coverage of Rupert Murdoch’s applications for cross- ownership waivers to own The New York Post? 1 Subsidiary Questions 1. What frames are used in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal coverage of the requests? 2. How does the information that is included and excluded in the news stories relate to the frames being used? 3. What tone (positive, negative or neutral) is most often associated with the frames? 4. What are the common sources used in the stories and what role do they play in helping shape the frames? Literature Review History of the FCC and Ownership The purpose of regulatory bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission still is as crucial today as it was decades ago because technology advancements continue to alter the media market and thus compel regulatory adjustments. Radio was one of the first modern technological developments that dramatically changed long-distance communication and was responsible for contributing to the foundation of the electronic mass media industry in the United States. The Radio Act of 1912 was a communication regulatory initiative passed by Congress to coordinate point-to-point wireless communication. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover assumed the role of issuing licenses and assigning frequencies under this Act (McChesney, 1993, 13). The necessity of regulating the print medium further was not apparent in the beginning, but over time, the Radio Act of 1912 grew increasingly insufficient to handle the emergence of numerous radio broadcasters across the country that eventually formed the industry we know today. The idea of radio as a mass medium began in Pittsburgh in 1916 when Frank Conrad, a Westinghouse engineer, broadcast music and news from his garage to his friends with receivers. Westinghouse established KDKA in 1920 as the first commercial broadcast station in America (Campbell, Martin & Fabos, 2008, 126). In the early 1920’s most radio stations were run by non-profits including colleges and universities, civic groups, churches, and labor unions (McChesney, 1993, 14). By 1923, there were more than 600 commercial and noncommercial radio stations operating in the U.S. (Campbell, et al., 2008, 126). Hoover tried to reduce the overcrowding of the airwaves but the U.S. 2 Court of Appeals ruled that he overstepped his authority (Creech, 2007, 62). By the mid- 1920s a technological crisis emerged as a few conglomerates, mainly Radio Corporation of America (RCA), General Electric (GE), American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), and Westinghouse, began to broadcast alongside non-profit broadcasters creating congestion in the airwaves as station frequencies were disturbed by one another (McChesney, 1993, 20). The domination of a few corporations and the growing popularity of the medium, which had 5.5 million radio sets in use by 1925, caused government officials to take notice and realize it was necessary to regulate this interstate communication highway (Campbell, et al., 2008, 126). Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927 in an attempt to correct the problem and bring stability to the ether by preserving broadcasting for the public domain (McChesney, 1993, 17). The Act was signed by President Calvin Coolidge and established a temporary agency, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), that consisted of five members who were responsible for assigning broadcast licenses to serve the “public interest, convenience or necessity” (Creech, 2007, 63; McChesney, 1993, 17, 20). In its first year, the agency failed to accommodate 733 stations on the available 90 frequencies (McChesney, 1993, 20). The
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