NBC Cuts Are Bad News for Telemundo Posted by Bob at 11/01/06 02:55 PM

Big media companies regularly brush aside charges that media consolidation homogenizes local news and public affairs coverage and shuts out minority voices. But even the slickest media mogul would have a hard time putting a positive spin on a cost-slashing plan recently unveiled by NBC Universal.

The conglomerate that owns the NBC Network and a slew of other media properties says it wants to cut $750 million in spending and lay off 700 employees by the end of 2008. The chief target of the cuts will be the local news operations of Telemundo, the Spanish-language network acquired by NBC Universal in 2001.

The local newsrooms to be closed are Dallas, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio and San Jose. In place of Telemundo’s local newscasts in those markets, NBC Universal will offer a “hubbed” newscast out of Fort Worth, TX. Of the 15 Telemundo stations owned by NBC Universal, the only ones which will continue to have true local newscasts will be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists points out that NBC Universal isn’t planning to shutter any of its English-language stations, calling into serious question the media giant’s commitment to the Hispanic community. ”If regionalized newscasts are good for journalism and not just a way to save money while giving the appearance of meeting the network’s public interest obligations, why are regional newscasts only being planned for the Spanish-speaking audience?” the group asks in a news release.

That’s a good question.

And it’s not as if NBC Universal has had a great track record regarding Telemundo’s local operations even before the latest cost-cutting plan. NBC Universal acquired two Spanish-language stations in Los Angeles when it acquired Telemundo in 2001, KVEA and KWHY. Less than a year later, both of the stations had been merged into a single operation in Burbank with NBC Universal’s flagship station in LA, KNBC, including their local newsrooms.

NBC Universal and its fellow media giants have proven time and again they have little regard for the public service role of the local broadcasters they have gobbled up in recent years , particularly when it comes to local news operations. Expect the big media companies to trot out the same disingenuous arguments and empty promises about localism as the FCC considers relaxing its current media ownership rules in the coming months. Consumers and anyone who cares about democracy should demand the FCC stop letting big media companies get even bigger. It would also be nice if the FCC began holding media giants such as NBC Universal to the previous promises they’ve made.

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