Tell it not in harrisburg, publish it not in the streets of Tampa: Media ownership, the public interest and local television news

A framing analysis was performed on 22 local news reports identified in 90 newscasts carried by television stations covering the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) public hearings on media ownership held in Harrisburg, PA and Tampa, FL in 2007. It revealed two frames: one portraying the hearings as “unimportant” and another suggesting that “media consolidation is not a problem.” Taking into account that the stations are owned by non-local media conglomerates, the findings of this study imply that maintaining broadcasters independent of the networks serves the diversity of viewpoints in a market, especially regarding issues in which media conglomerates have a vested interest.