Wrapping Up 2004

By Mark Lloyd | January 12, 2005

There are a few things we can say with some confidence regarding communications policy in 2004. Both the evangelical right and the pro-business right held major sway over the federal agencies that were formed to oversee communications activity on behalf of the entire public= The trend toward consolidation continued in both the sector that produces content and the sector that distributes content. While the communications industries spent millions influencing policy, they also made billions in return for that investment. While a few stockholders benefited from this state of affairs, most consumers did not. Democracy, and the enlightened citizen so necessary to make it function, most certainly did not benefit from the state of communications policy in 2004.

Here are just a few of the numbers:

1. Number of indecency violations the FCC issued in 2004: 12
2. Number issued in 2003: 3
3. Amount of fines for indecency violations in 2004: $ 7,928,000
4. Amount of fines for indecency violations in 2003: $ 440,000 [1]
5. Amount of fines for false political advertising in 2004: $0 [2]
6. Amount TV took in for political advertising in 2004: $1.6 billion
7. Amount TV took in for political ads in 2000: $771 million [3]
8. Amount CBS accepted for political ads by the United Church of Christ and MoveOn in 2004: $0 [4]
9. Amount cable television providers spent to influence federal officials from 1998 through June 2004: $140.6 million
10. Amount TV and radio broadcasters spent to influence federal officials from 1998 through June 2004: $248.9 million
11. Amount telecommunications industry spent to influence federal officials from 1998 through June 2004: $559 million [5]
12. Percentage of Americans who got most of their election information from Fox News: 21% [6]
13. Percentage of Americans who got most of their election information from Fox News and supported Bush: 70%
14. Percentage of Americans who got most of their election information from Fox News and supported Kerry: 21%[7]
15. Percentage of Bush supporters who wrongly believed that Iraq had WMD or major WMD programs: 72%
16. Percentage of Kerry supporters who wrongly believed this: 26%
17. Percentage of Bush supporters who wrongly believed Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda: 76%
18. Percentage of Kerry supporters who wrongly believed this: 30%[8]
19. Value of merger between Sprint and Nextel: $35 billion [9]
20. Amount the Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company) will pay to acquire the online news service MarketWatch: $463 million [10]
21. Average cable bill in 2004: $50.98
22. Percentage of increase in monthly cable bills nationwide from 1998 to 2004: 45%
23. Average satellite bill in 2004: $49.08 [11]
24. How much most Americans spent monthly on local phone service in 2004: $38
25. How much most Americans spent monthly on local phone service in 2003: $34 [12]

Let us resolve to work harder to correct these problems in 2005.

Mark Lloyd is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.