Monopolies — weren’t they bad? To be broken up? Whatever happened to one entity not controlling a whole area of business?

I understand that on June 2, deregulation plans of the FCC are to loosen rules to allow broadcasters to own newspapers in the same geographical market and to allow broadcast networks to be unrestricted in size. Think of that. And did you know that broadcasters will no longer need to present both sides of an issue and may endorse one candidate without opportunity for the opposition to speak? Why, you ask, when we need and are used to equal opportunity? Sensationalism and high ratings — that’s the focus and what sells.

So, forget about important issues or two-sided coverage or candidate discussions — most of these are not sensational. We have been told to expect the mergers between radio and TV stations to extend now to mergers between broadcasters and newspapers. With ownership and control in the hands of fewer people (looking for sensationalism), what will that do to coverage and diversity of opinion? It worries me.

With media monopoly, are we in for monologues? What about the rest of the story?

Dorothy M. Greenwood