COMS 230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Fairness Doctrine, Mass Society, Main Source

• School: McGill University
• Department: Communication Studies
• Course: COMS 230
• Professor: Cayley Sorochan

Document Summary

There are very broad characteristic differences in the way newspapers, broadcasting, and telecommunications systems have been regulated. There has been a lesser need to regulate access to this media industry. The main source of regulation is anti-trust law aimed at the prevention of creation of powerful monopolies. However, minimal regulation of the press has had consequences. Comparing the press to broadcasting we some comparisons. Some of the reasons for difference relate to the technological differences of the media. The electromagnetic spectrum is a scarce resource so only so many clear signals can travel at the same time, so there is a need for management to prevent signal interference. There is the public or common character of the airways. Airways over which signals travel are a natural and commonly held resource. Instead of owning it, they are leased to private or public actors in the public trust. They are considered a public resource so the public has a claim on these.