By Nicholas Regush

Good grief, Michael Powell, son of Colin, what are we to make of your comments at Harvard's Shorenstein Center? For those of us who have long decided that consolidation of media is a threat, not only to free expression, but also the signpost to a world in which Big Buck rules a narrow flow of information, your rather cavalier attitude on this issue is bewildering.

And to boot, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and having told the audience that you are sort of middle-of-the-road (ideologically-speaking), not taking seriously the huge concentration of media power that has been occurring speaks not so much to ideology but more to ignorance. Only someone who is grandly out of touch with the causes and daily realities of increasing mediocrity in, say, network television news, or on the entertainment front would have suggested that concentration of media power has not diminished variety and a sense of fairness.

Consider, for example, the devastating budget and staff cuts that have occurred at major news networks, including ABC News where I produced medical features for six years at World News Tonight With Peter Jennings. Disney, scarred by losses at some of its entertainment and travel divisions, introduced a series of cuts that greatly affected the scope of news that could be produced at WNT. Many good and different ideas had to go on the shelf because there wasn,t enough money to conduct the proper research and introduce new ideas into the information flow. Rather than conduct real interviews and gain some insight on location, producers and correspondents have had to do more speak-phone telephone interviews. To say the quality and diversity of news production has not been affected by Disney-style budgeting would be like believing in the Tooth Fairy.

Sure, more spending has become necessary on news reporting overseas since September 11, but don,t be fooled by those who like to argue that the news divisions are bouncing back. That's pure fool's gold. And it won,t last. Just as you shouldn,t expect a show such as Nightline to last in a news and entertainment economy controlled by a few giant interests.

Also, Michael, son of Colin, you should have a heart-to-heart chat with Peter Jennings one day and let him tell you (if he is honest and open about it) how Disney has exerted some pressure on WNT. Ask him why, for example, he did what amounted to an ad for Disney's movie, Pearl Harbor, as an awkward introduction to a Ned Potter piece on Pearl Harbor Day. No, this doesn,t happen very often, but the pressure is there, and someone with the integrity and clout that Jennings has should never be placed in that kind of situation.

There are many such stories about how concentration of power has cut into news reporting and made a fool of it. And the situation will likely worsen, especially with you as FCC Chairman.