The past two decades have witnessed the number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music, radio, cable, publishing and the Internet dwindle from 50 to less than two dozen — with power concentrated especially in 10 huge conglomerates.The past two decades have witnessed the number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music, radio, cable, publishing and the Internet dwindle from 50 to less than two dozen, with much of the control concentrated in fewer than 10 massive conglomerates. While enriching investors, these changes have endangered democracy – which demands an informed citizenry with access to variety of voices and viewpoints.
This shift has been aided and abetted by government policies that explicitly reward a cartel of industry giants at the expense of the public interest. While the media moguls crow about “deregulation,” the last thing they want is genuine market competition. History shows that the relaxation of media ownership rules always leads to more market consolidation and less competition. Greased by extensive campaign contributions and pressured by intensive lobbying, Washington policymakers have abandoned antitrust enforcement and pursued policies to encourage greater media concentration.
The Free Press interactive media ownership chart has a full breakdown of the largest media giants today.
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