Summary:The discussion centered around issues surrounding the consolidation and explosion of rival voices — such as 24-hr cable channels and news websites — within the media sector. The conflict in Iraq served as the main context during the exchange among the panelists. Robert Bartley summed up his own introductory views by stating that media organizations are at an inflection point in terms of news coverage. More specifically, Bartley maintained that the "extra adversarial edge of the attitudes of the press may be going away."
Joel Kurtzman built on this view by stating that the coverage in Iraq is reflecting a soldier′s view of the world because of the imbedding of journalists within specific military units. He argued that "as citizens we need to get the entire perspective of what is going on in the Middle East" through journalists weighing in with more varied political and ethical considerations. In the case of the LA Times′ coverage of the war, John Puerner emphasized that the imbedding process is only one component of an integrated reporting mechanism they have set up on the ground with troops, at the Pentagon and command center, and in neighboring countries near the conflict.
The discussion then turned to recent trends in media ownership and consolidation in which two views emerged. Peter Passell joined Mr. Puerner in suggesting that the increasing concentration among media players has failed to tarnish the credibility of any of the reporting of news. In fact, both argued that a diversity of news has emerged that has never been seen before. Mr. Puerner used his Los Angeles news conglomerate as an example to highlight the fact that "a larger platform allows us to take news to a larger group of people…resulting in better, more integrated coverage along with better access gained by journalists across national and global boundaries." Mr. Kurtzman shared an alternative view stating that the consolidation within the media sector has destroyed shareholder value, in light of the souring over high profile mergers such as the AOL/Time Warner transaction. He pointed out that while the concentration in the media sector increased significantly, penetration rates for new viewers or readers of news content has not increased.
Dennis Kneale moved the debate forward by asking the panel to offer their views on whether or not consolidation had reduced the diversity of voices within the media sector. The panel agreed that in fact today′s journalism is more vibrant than ever with 24-hour news coverage and website distribution of content. Mr. Puerner argued that the revamping of cross-ownership rules, particularly between print and broadcast ownership, is long overdue. He went as far as to characterize as "ridiculous" the government prohibiting a business from owning a news and television outlet in the same market. From his perspective, the single biggest concern for emerging news organizations should be their ability to handle complex news stories that develop over several years. By having a larger, more integrated platform across different mediums (print, television and the Internet), Mr. Puerner suggested his organization was better positioned to handle important developing stories like the effects of China′s industrialization on the Southern California economy.
Mr. Bartley rounded out the conversation by discussing the advantages of offering "paid content" on the Internet for various news organizations. While The Wall Street Journal is one of the few news outlets which has been successful on this front, all of the panelists agreed with one panelist′s view that "paid content has the potential to erode the audience and transfer the viewers focus from a profitable to an unprofitable vehicle".
