As I’m sure anyone who’s likely to care already knows, the FCC’s decision on deregulation is due tomorrow, and most likely will make Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone and Steve Case very happy old white men. “Now that we have all this media, we’re in a position where we don’t need to have the government dictate who can own media outlets.” Clear Channel owns six stations in the Charleston market. The last couple of holdouts that aren’t college or religious broadcasts will probably be gone within a month of this decision. Not that I listen to the radio anymore, but I do feel sorry for the folks who don’t realize that this is the reason that popular music has been by and large such crap for a while now.

And that isn’t the only way these five companies are contributing to America’s cultural stagnation and their own downfall. Our most successful export has always been our culture, but it’s not a renewable enough resource to survive this kind of strip mining.