Stress on Profit Cited : Murrow Couldn’t Get Job Now at CBS--Galbraith

Legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow probably could not get a job at the new, market-oriented CBS News, economist John Kenneth Galbraith told a House subcommittee today.

Galbraith and media critic Ben Bagdikian said they feared the networks have been taken over by money counters with too little concern for the obligations of television news in American public affairs.

The result, they said, is a management which is concerned about public affairs only to the extent it enhances, or at least does not jeopardize, the bottom line of profit.

“Edward R. Murrow would not now be hired by CBS, and if hired, considering his capacity to offend, his job might not be secure,” Galbraith said, referring to the legendary broadcaster of television’s early days. “Can anyone think this is good?”

Bagdikian, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, noted with concern the increasing concentration of ownership in the once-diverse field of journalism.

In 1982, he said 50 corporations owned half or more of all major media corporations. That number now has shrunk to 27, he said, and some analysts predict it will shrink to half a dozen by the 1990s.

“Those who have great media power usually insist that they will never abuse that power,” Bagdikian said. “Many of them are sincere. But history is not reassuring on that point: When the stakes are high enough, everybody will use whatever power is needed.”

The testimony came as the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications subcommittee opened three days of hearings on the status of network television.

The hearings were prompted by the merger activity on Wall Street which has seen all three networks change ownership or targeted for takeover. General Electric has taken over NBC, and ABC was bought by Capital Cities Communications. CBS fought off a hostile takeover by Ted Turner and has been in turmoil since.