Critics allege that fewer licensees results in less diversity in broadcast programming. As corporations buy up chains of radio stations, for instance, they tend to homogenize their sound, offering less programming targeted to local audiences. The Watchdogs Given the central role of independent journalism in a democratic society and the absence of a constant regulator, citizens, interest groups, and journalistic associations have launched independent, nongovernmental efforts to monitor and report on media quality. None of them, of course, has any meaningful enforcement power, but they are effective in re-enforcing the principles of fairness, truth, and accuracy in reporting. The ombudsman may report on those complaints and how they were resolved in the pages of the publication.
Few institutions are more important to a democratic society than a free and independent media.
Such freedom requires the public, elected officials, and civic organizations to support truth, fairness, and balance in reporting and to insist that media outlets honor the principles that empower them. A former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, Nicholas Johnson now teaches communications law at the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Iowa.