This Anton newspaper is something now rare and important. It's an independent, locally-controlled news medium. With the Tribune Co. purchase of the Times Mirror Corporation this week, including Newsday, WPIX-TV and a slew of other media properties, all Long Islanders should be concerned.

Newsday has not been locally owned for 30 years, but Times Mirror liked to think of itself as a family-owned operation. Now there will be no pretense that its family of newspapers and magazines are anything more than cogs in something much larger, and much more dangerous than we've been told.

We have perhaps seven communications mega-corporations controlling most of the mass media in this country. Very soon, it will be down to three. Everyone knows that the next big merger will probably involve NBC and a film studio. Larger, conglomerated media companies can offer advertisers larger audiences or "reach," increasing advertising rates. Audiences stretching across different media are even better. "Repurposing" ideas across media means that Disney's cartoons can appear in books, videos, computer programs, movies, television and more and one company will enjoy multiple revenue streams from each talking animal.

One major problem is that corporate media are not controlled by journalists or artists, but by corporate suits whose goal is the bottom line, or whatever kind of line increases the value of stock options. Network news divisions were once designed to lose money but generate prestige. Now, news shows compete for ratings against everything else, so the news is designed for casual mass viewership. That's why news shows are filled with celebrity gossip and reports on liposuction. And it becomes important for viewers to be diligent about hidden agendas that may influence what we're shown and not shown.

A few years back, when I coordinated media relations for North Hempstead township, Newsday reporters made priority inquiries about plans to construct skateboarding facilities in Long Island parks. Newsday is a corporate first cousin to a leading skateboarding magazine. Okay, even if it wasn't coincidence, it was pretty harmless. But when Regis asks guests on his game show lots of questions about The Lion King and other Disney properties it seems less harmless because objectivity becomes an issue. The Insider may win Oscars at next week's Academy Awards for showing what can and has happened at even the most famous news operation when parent corporate financial interests are at stake.

When the federal government virtually gave away $70 billion in public broadcast band rights to media corporations a few years ago, only a brief mention was made on two networks. Two didn't mention it at all. None mentioned any controversy. All's well, America.

Stay diligent. If Newsday stories compliment Channel 11's Mets broadcasts, will it be because Tom Seaver and the gang were really good that week, or will there by another motive? We shouldn't have to ask these kinds of questions in America, but now we do.

Michael Miller was formerly Director of Public Affairs for the Town of North Hempstead. He is a public relations consultant.