Big Media And The Big Story

One of Dwight D. Eisenhower's most enduring acts as president was his warning about the dangers of the 'military industrial complex'--the cozy ties between a weapons-hungry Pentagon and the nation's business-hungry defense contractors. Is the relationship between big media and big government the 21st century version of this--what international relations expert James Der Derian has dubbed the "military-industrial-media-entertainment network?"

On Wednesday, Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, asked the major networks to refrain from showing unedited video messages taped by Osama bin Laden. All but one are controlled by major conglomerates that have important pending business with the government. All of them readily acceded to her concerns. At the request of the FBI and White House, "America's Most Wanted," the crime-fighting reality show on the Fox network, which is owned by media conglomerate News Corp., produced a Friday night television special on the list of "Most Wanted Terrorists." After the World Trade Center was attacked, Disney shot down a request for help from its ABC News division, according to a top executive. News employees had asked Disney's Washington office for help in regaining access to air space for its news helicopter. Disney bosses called such a request "ridiculous" and admonished its news unit to "recognize we are in a state of emergency."

From newsrooms in New York to studios in Hollywood, media and entertainment companies are overwhelmingly dominated by a handful of global behemoths. Among them: News Corp. (the Fox movie and television empire; Fox News on cable; BSkyB satellite-TV in Europe and Star TV in Asia); AOL Time Warner (CNN, Warner Bros., Time Inc., AOL, WB, TNT, HBO); Viacom (CBS, UPN, MTV, Paramount and Simon and Schuster) and Disney (ABC and Walt Disney studio).

The conglomerates all have pivotal business pending in Washington. AOL Time Warner has been in talks with AT&T about combining cable operations, a proposal that would require government approval. News Corp. would need an okay to acquire satellite-TV giant DirecTV-if the two can ever negotiate a deal. On several occasions, Viacom's second-in-command has publicly mused about acquiring NBC to add to its CBS and other television holdings--a transaction that could only happen with Washington's lifting bans against such a combination.

In the past, critics have argued that the megadeals are dangerous--leading to a risky concentration of the nation's communications assets and a gutting of the news divisions. Now, the conglomerates and their Wall St. supporters argue that Sept. 11 proves such concerns are way off base.

In the hours and days after the attack, the networks provided round-the-clock, commercial-free news coverage. By some accounts, that cost them as much as a combined $500 million. And the bill continues to rise. "There is in place now a large effective communications and information systems," Gerald Levin, CEO of AOL Time Warner, the world's largest media and entertainment company, tells NEWSWEEK. "On a worldwide basis, we have the resources to be able to report on what happened on an instantaneous basis, which is critical to our society." He adds: "In this new world of ours, we have to make sure to tap into our large companies that have the resources, skills and social commitment to make a difference." Levin and his counterparts at rival conglomerates have pledged to continue spending big on news. "Our costs are going up, and we will spend whatever it takes on newsgathering, journalism and security," Levin says. "If shareholders can't understand that it's in the national interest...."