-By Jeffrey Yorke, Radio and Records

Sen. Byron Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat leading the Senate charge against media consolidation, on Wednesday (May 21) asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct a “comprehensive study on the state of media in this country and the impact of increased media consolidation.”

In a letter to GAO acting comptroller Gene Dodaro and co-signed by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Dorgan warned of "galloping concentration in the media.”

Citing a decrease in independent programming on radio and television, Dorgan wrote: "It is high time we examine the real-life impact this consolidation has had on what Americans see, hear and read. We worry that the percentage of independently produced and owned content on media outlets will continue to fall, thereby limiting the number of distinct media voices.”

Among the things they want investigated are the sources of programming on TV, radio and subscription video services and how these sources have changed in the past decade, factors contributing to distribution of programming, the impact of consolidation on independently produced programming, and what roles the Internet plays in providing an outlet for independent programming.