What Powell wants is not fewer voices but more. "I think the answer," he told an interviewer, "is to power more devices and technology in the future so that there are so many sources, so much diversity that (concentration) is a moot issue."

The worry at that point will be fragmentation of the marketplace -- the disintegration in some degree of common authorities and sources. There will be no Walter Cronkites, in other words. No Jack Paars, no David Brinkleys or Dan Rathers to provide a common frame of reference. More and more, that is becoming the case even now. I can't remember the last time I looked into Dan Rather's masterful eyes. You can read news on the Internet within a few minutes of its happening. Who needs Dan?

The marketplace is a vast mystery, always working outside the sight of those who would regulate it, such as congressmen. So mysterious is this thing that officials blessed with a truly spacious vision -- the likes of Michael Powell -- are inclined just to shrug. They would let happen what happens, with due provision for constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Come to think of it, one of those rights embedded in the First Amendment -- the right of free speech -- is seemingly enjoying a heyday. The technology that Michael Powell celebrates has extended the varieties of speech and their reach in ways unimaginable even a decade ago.

Say what it wants, Congress doesn't run this particular show. And, just on present evidence, what a blessing that is!