Almost two decades ago, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Intended to better the life of Americans economically and socially, the act unexpectedly did just the opposite. Cable and broadcast television as well as radio were the two media outlets most affected by this new bill. This is an example of what can happen when the public is not informed about policy decisions and when big corporations spend their money on political contributions while making promises they cannot keep.
Technology was rapidly improving in the late 20th century, making the Communications Act of 1934 more obsolete every day. Although there were revisions made to this act throughout the years, Congress decided to completely replace it with a new act that …show more content…
However, there were several reasons the Telecommunication’s consequences were unexpected and detrimental to the US economically and socially. The public at large was unaware of this bill. They were not properly informed of the decisions being made. Journalists who were covering this legislation did not observe the impacts it would have on the public. They merely focused on the business side of it rather than public policy. In addition, big corporations made promises they could not keep, getting the government thoroughly on board with the new bill. Ironically, President Clinton foreshadowed the negative effects of this bill. In a White House press release on August 1, 1995, regarding H.R. 1555, President Clinton stated: “Instead of promoting investment and competition, it promotes mergers and concentration of power. Instead of promoting open access and diversity of content and viewpoints, it would allow fewer people to control greater numbers of television, radio and newspaper outlets in every community....The cumulative effect of these provisions would be to harm competition and to weaken the benefits to the public.” However, the promise of lower prices, competition, higher quality, and more diversity influenced his decision to sign the
Technology was rapidly improving in the late 20th century, making the Communications Act of 1934 more obsolete every day. Although there were revisions made to this act throughout the years, Congress decided to completely replace it with a new act that …show more content…
However, there were several reasons the Telecommunication’s consequences were unexpected and detrimental to the US economically and socially. The public at large was unaware of this bill. They were not properly informed of the decisions being made. Journalists who were covering this legislation did not observe the impacts it would have on the public. They merely focused on the business side of it rather than public policy. In addition, big corporations made promises they could not keep, getting the government thoroughly on board with the new bill. Ironically, President Clinton foreshadowed the negative effects of this bill. In a White House press release on August 1, 1995, regarding H.R. 1555, President Clinton stated: “Instead of promoting investment and competition, it promotes mergers and concentration of power. Instead of promoting open access and diversity of content and viewpoints, it would allow fewer people to control greater numbers of television, radio and newspaper outlets in every community....The cumulative effect of these provisions would be to harm competition and to weaken the benefits to the public.” However, the promise of lower prices, competition, higher quality, and more diversity influenced his decision to sign the