Six conglomerates have a stranglehold on the American media. The mouthpiece of democracy is stifled, delivering a narrower scope of information to the public. For relief, the Federal Communications Commission must step in to establish greater restrictions on media ownership.

The FCC is conducting six hearings across the country to discuss media ownership and other regulations with the public.

During the first hearing, the FCC received an earful of complaints from dissatisfied consumer advocates, everyday workers and local politicians. General sentiments included frustrations with job cuts, lower wages, lack of local news coverage and bland programming, according to an Oct. 4 Los Angeles Times article.

In 2003, the FCC attempted to relax regulations, allowing one company to own up to three television stations, eight radio stations and a daily newspaper in a single city. Fortunately, a federal appeals court responded to the public outcry and ordered the FCC to rework the proposed regulations.

Now, by holding public hearings, the FCC is attempting to more directly involve the American people in the process of deciding regulations. Hopefully, the FCC will not just listen to the despondent public, but act accordingly.

The extreme amount of consolidation among media companies clearly shows that news has become overly focused on profit.

News content is decided based on what will sell, instead of what people need to know.

Journalistic integrity has been squandered and local news coverage has been sacrificed.

A recent discovery revealed that members of the FCC ordered their staff to destroy a report suggesting greater concentration of media ownership would damage local television news coverage. The report showed that locally owned television stations gave more airtime to news than big media companies, according to a Sept. 14 Associated Press article.

Why would the FCC want this report destroyed? Perhaps the report didn’t agree with certain commissioners’ plans for further deregulation, or maybe it would have offended powerful outside interests. Regardless of the reasons, the fact that members of the FCC wanted this report destroyed demonstrates the willingness of the commission to undermine democracy, the very ideal it is designed to protect.

This was not the first time the FCC damaged democracy. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed the current mega-media mergers, it became clear that the FCC had no intention of preserving quality journalism. Again in 2003, when further deregulation was attempted, the FCC showed its disregard for a diverse marketplace of ideas.

For a healthy democracy to survive, a wealth of information must be publicly accessible. It is the duty of American citizens to ensure that media ownership is not further deregulated by holding the FCC accountable through petitioning or other lawful actions.

Steve Bartholomew is an opinion columnist for the Northern Star.