Ben Compaine's Who Owns the Media?

FCC asks: Do media ownership limits make sense?

2010-06-21T11:31:00.001-04:00

"Even the news industry's free fall probably will not be enough to wipe out complicated federal rules designed to restrain the power of media companies," is the conclusion of an Associated Press analysis of the forthcoming FCC's mandated quadrennial review of its ownership regulations. Although the legacy media companies are "no longer the almighty players that they were when the ownership rules

Google Trends suggests that interest in media ownership on decline, especially compared to the economy

2009-01-10T22:23:00.011-05:00

How important is the subject of media ownership? As with so many questions, the answer is, relative to what? And to whom?Google not only answers our questions, such as “Who owns the media?”, but thanks to its scale of use, can also tell us what users are concerned about. Google keeps track of the more than 31 billion searches made through it facility each month. And thanks to a wonderful tool it

Matt Welch takes media reformistas to task for hypocrisy

2008-08-08T15:43:00.003-04:00

Matt Welch, in a post at Reason, pinpoints the hypocrisy of the media reformistas movement. Given what Welch documents they are on the record as lamenting—-the faceless corporate control of newspapers, the cost-cutting pressures that come with being a publicly traded newspaper company, the lack of local ownership (and concern with local affairs that comes with it) and, above all, the trend of

It took too long, but Justice understood Sirius-XM market perfectly

2008-03-28T16:13:00.011-04:00

A few months back I was visiting with my sister-in-law in Western Missouri. I offered to tag along as she drove for a few errands. I also wanted to get a feel for her spanking new Hyundai. While waiting in the car I fiddled with the radio that included an XM Satellite Radio. I couldn’t tune in anything except the conventional local stations. As we continued on to the next stop I ask her why

Why Cable Prices Seem To have Increased So Rapidly

2008-03-21T17:35:00.016-04:00

When a candy bar manufacturer has higher costs it can raise prices by giving less. The 3 ounce bar becomes the 2.75 ounce bar. This in effect is an 8% price increase. But the increase is not as painful because our expenditure stays constant.The print media can do the same to a point. They can reduce the news hole (ratio of editorial content to advertising), even reduce the number of pages, while

Is it a "Confidential" or "Free and Open" Society?

2008-01-31T22:42:00.000-05:00

Though a bit off-topic from the usual subject matter of this Blog, I couldn’t resist highlighting the following statement from Martha K. Levin, executive vice president and publisher of the Free Press, which published James Risen’s 2006 book, State of War. Mr. Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, was issued a subpoena by a federal grand jury apparently to try to force him to reveal his

Retiring WSJ Managing Editor Says High Profits Created Newspaper Industry’s “Golden Age”

2008-01-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day on the job for Paul Steiger, who has been the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, for the past 16 years. That’s an impressive run by any standard. Last Saturday the Journal published his valedictory on the front page under the headline “Read All About It: How newspapers got into such a fix, and where they go from here.” (Sub. still required) It is a marvelous

Senate's Media Ownership Crusade: Ignores Research, Will Have Unintended Consequences

2007-11-09T16:34:00.001-05:00

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Senate’s latest misguided efforts to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from doing its job is the ignorance—or worse—ignoring— by the Senators of the solid data available to guide it. In a hearing on November 8 on "Localism, Diversity, and Media Ownership," the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation loaded up the

Slate's Shafer "Defends" Murdoch. But it's Really About Encouraging Choice and Diversity

2007-11-01T12:30:00.000-04:00

Jack Shafer, who authors the Pressbox column for Slate, wrote “In Defense of Rupert Murdoch” last Friday that Murdoch is “not as bad as some people make him out to be—people like Federal Communications Commission member Michael J. Copps.” In an open letter to the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Copps says that in buying Dow Jones, “For residents of the local New York metropolitan area, it will also

WOTM FAQ #4: Is the debate about media concentration you are having with other scholars fun and stimulating?

2007-10-03T10:59:00.000-04:00

A FAQ series featuring some real questions I have answered from time to time.It’s been awhile since I last added to my FAQ. The above is based on the opening line of a recent email I received from a graduate student. Following is my response.I can assure you that the subject of media competition and its effects is not a simple academic debate among scholars. This is a high stakes issue. The

News Corp. as an acquirer is limited by family ownership

2007-07-13T11:39:00.000-04:00

While the outcome of News Corporation’s audacious bid to acquire Dows Jones continues to percolate, it might also be timely to look at News Corp. as an acquirer of media companies over time. Despite the image perpetrated by the company’s vocal detractors, News Corp is actually one of the few large media companies that has been much more of a creator and builder of media outlets than an acquirer

Flow chart and new ad data reinforces competition and fragmentation in the media industry

2007-04-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

I posted an entry today at the Rebuilding Media site which was primarily focused on media strategy. Figure 1However, I can use much the same data to further bolster the point that the media industry today is far more open and competitive than ever. Although Figures 1 and 2, originally created by Winnipeg-based Ken Goldstein of Communications Management, repurposed here,

Media “Monopoly” as seen from the real world

2007-03-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

You don't have to be an economist to intuitively know that close substitutes can act as very effective competition. Remember pop in glass bottles? When the only choice for diapers was to wash poopie cloth? When television news meant three broadcast networks? When music had to be distributed on vinyl? The media debate du jour is whether a merger of two satellite radio providers, Sirius and XM

Sirius/XM Merger Proposal: The two sides of the pancake.

2007-02-20T08:15:00.000-05:00

The two satellite radio providers, XM and Sirius, announced a proposed merger yesterday. The FCC, which must approve such a combination, quite reasonably went on record as having reservations. Chairman Kevin Martin added that “the hurdle here, however, would be high as the commission originally prohibited one company from holding the only two satellite radio licenses." What’s reasonable here? On

Columbia Forum Yields No Answers But Highlights Ambiguities on Media Ownership Issue

2007-02-09T11:29:00.000-05:00

The mini-symposium at Columbia Journalism School yesterday on Media Reform: Is it Good for Journalism? was barely a toe-in-the-water event. Still, for anyone who was seriously interested in both sides of the pancake of the so-called media reform debate, it provided more grist for the mill than the three day one dimensional pep rally that the movement holds annually, mostly recently last month in

What Media Consolidation? Whose Quality Journalism? Response Below

2007-02-07T21:53:00.000-05:00

I was asked by a documentary film maker if I would agree to be interviewed for a film on the media ownership issue, specifically the FCC hearings that are being held around the country. I was asked:Our major focus is how consolidation affects journalism. Is quality journalism declining, morphing, getting better? Does it have any affect at all? My response follows:Well, I remain a bit hesitant.

“Media Reform: Is It Good for Journalism?” at Columbia J-School Feb 8

2007-02-02T17:55:00.001-05:00

I will be a participant at Columbia University’s School of Journalism mini-conference next Thursday, Feb 8 it’s labeling “Media Reform: Is It Good for Journalism?” The keynote speaker is Walter Cronkite. (See Slate’s Jack Shafer on “media reform.”) The latest information is that there will be two panels. I will be part of one, on Media Competition (they call it media concentration), which

Slate Further Questions the Minot-Clear Channel Urban Legend

2007-01-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

Back in June 2005 I wrote about the Urban Legend that was growing up about the events surrounding a toxic gas spill in the area of Minot, ND and the supposed lack of responsiveness of the six radio stations owned by Clear Channel Communications in Minot. The media reform (sic) movement has used this story as the poster child for all that they claim is wrong about the state of media ownership in

"Media Tracker" a useful tool for identifying media competitors by locality

2006-11-15T21:40:00.000-05:00

A useful research tool has been relaunched by the Center for Public Integrity as part of its Telecom and Media Ownership Project. Dubbed Media Tracker, it’s an enhanced data base that identifies media outlets in any geographic area as well as the ownership of each outlet. The data base includes newspapers, television, radio, cable and broadband providers.So, for example, if you want to see the

NSF-Funded Study Finds Newspaper “Slant” Comes from Readers, Not from Owner

2006-11-09T14:22:00.000-05:00

Once again, does ownership matter? A new, comprehensive, methodically unbiased study from two academic economists asks the question: “What Drives Media Slant?” Using robust statistical tools and a novel approach to measure “slant,” this National Science Foundation-funded study found that the largest single variable is that “Firms respond strongly to consumer preferences.” That is, to the extent

Cutting profit margins for newspapers only a short term fix

2006-09-28T16:29:00.000-04:00

Cutting “expected” profit margins for newspapers will not prevent long term downsizing of newspaper expenses.In a post I made today at Rebuilding Media I talk about the inevitability of downsizing at newspapers. I suggest you read that before continuing here, though it’s not necessary.There is no doubt that newspapers need to downsize to reflect both their shrinking circulation and their stagnant

FCC Pursues New (Yawn) Ownership Rules. Does Anyone Who Matters Care?

2006-08-30T17:38:00.000-04:00

As the FCC gears up for a new stab at concocting media ownership limits, the big media companies are continuing to downsize, resize, divest and diversify. To a great extent they look out over the highly competitive media landscape and do not see the FCC being as relevant to their future as many of the high profile media bashing critics seem to believe.The break up of Knight-Ridder, the second

Big Media Critics Needn't Worry so Much

2006-06-21T12:26:00.000-04:00

Alan Murray, who writes on politics for The Wall Street Journal, has a column (page 2) today with the above headline. I’d like to run the whole thing here, as some readers of this Blog may not subscribe to the print or online version of the Journal (though I have stated many times that an online subscription is one of the best uses I can think of for $50 so long as you have lunch money set aside)

Local Ownership for Philadelphia Newspapers Not Necessarily Good News-- Nor Bad News

2006-05-25T12:57:00.000-04:00

That faction of the universe that holds that big media conglomerates are bad for journalism should take no comfort in the announcement Tuesday that a group of Philadelphia investors will buy The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News from McClatchy, flipping it from the Knight-Ridder acquisition. The event is, by itself, neither positive nor negative.In some quarters there is a nostalgia for “local

"Trust in Media" survey adds to data that no firms dominate U.S. news media

2006-05-04T20:34:00.000-04:00

The “Trust in Media” survey conducted by the BBC, Reuters and the Media Center released today has something in it for almost anyone. It found that the media were trusted a bit more than governments, Fox News was the most trusted news source in the U.S. Al Jazeera most trusted in the Middle East and the BBC (surprise?) most trusted globally. Blogs, says the report, are the least trusted form of

This week's FCC fines for indecent content of TV broadcasters just a cost of doing business

2006-03-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

You may have seen on Wednesday that the FCC fined CBS as well as some local broadcasters a total of about $4 million for violations of decency standards. This included instances of violence as well as impermissible sex.Though the headlines were about the fines, the broader subtext is about equity: First Amendment equity. The larger issue is the double standard that is applied to broadcast

The "non-media monopoly" as seen by the smart money

2006-03-03T12:45:00.000-05:00

Among the worst performing publicly owned companies over the past three years are a collection of media companies, all associated with the popular misconception of “media monopoly.” This turns into an oxymoron when these so-called monopolies have such poor financial performance that they are among the bottom of the barrel among all sorts of competitive companies in other industries.The reason we

Why Being Big Means Little: The Lessons for Media Businesses from Western Union

2006-02-04T16:22:00.000-05:00

On January 27, 2006, Western Union sent its final telegram, 150 years after it sent its first. There’s a bit of a message for the media industry in this historical footnote.In the late 19th century and into the 1930s, Western Union was the pinnacle of the communications business. Indeed, believing that telegraph was the be all and end all of communications technology, Western Union turned down

Is there a need for public broadcasting in the mega channel world?

2006-01-02T13:03:00.001-05:00

Is there a future for public broadcasting in the U.S.? Last month a blue ribbon panel headed by former Netscape CEO James Barksdale and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt took a stab at addressing this in a report, “Digital Future Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Service Media in the Digital Age.” As the title indicates, there are no dearth of challenges for public

Family Friendly cable package? Not so voluntary and not good policy

2005-12-14T12:59:00.000-05:00

Can an action be "voluntary" if one is coerced into taking the action? Adam Thierer has an insightful take on volunteerism as it applies to the recent announcement by the cable industry that it will offer so-called "family friendly" packages, or tier. I urge you to read his entire post. In brief:How voluntary is this action when Congress is making regulatory noises and the FCC is holding Time

A la carte pricing for cable? A bad idea for diversity.

2005-12-05T18:03:00.000-05:00

It’s clearly silly season at the FCC. Among other things, they are chatting up unbundled pricing for the cable industry. A very bad idea. Who says so? Well. Steve Yelvington, for one, who is no lackey of the cable industry. And not just because it would undo the industry’s business model with little gain for consumers. No, the bigger issue is with the notion of diversity that the same self-styled

Consolidation in Newspaper Industry is Inevitable, as Owners Make Strategic Decisions

2005-10-30T21:05:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month journalism professor and former Knight-Ridder journalist Phil Meyer published a column headlined “Newspapers can't maintain monopoly profits because they've lost their monopolies.” In it he voiced skepticism that attracting “young readers” is a viable resuscitation strategy for traditional newspapers. His compelling evidence went beyond the usual table that shows that 20-

Look for me at the Rebuilding Media blog

2005-10-06T21:26:00.000-04:00

Why so few entries to this blog lately? Thanks for asking.I've been asked to contribute to the Rebuilding Media blog I discovered a few months ago and wrote about here. That forum allows me to address a greater range of research and industry developments than does Who Owns the Media.I will continue to post here when I have some fresh data or some relevant observations. But if you are interested

Academic Research Confirms--and Undercuts-- FCC Media Regulation, Deregulation

2005-09-27T14:26:00.000-04:00

I spent last weekend at the Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy (better known by its organizer’s initials, TPRC) held at George Mason University Law School outside Washington. It was kicked off with a session featuring a rather heated discussion between two former FCC chairmen, Richard Wiley (from the Nixon era) and Reed Hundt (appointed by Pres. Clinton).

Advertising Trends Not Favorable for Old Media

2005-09-15T21:14:00.000-04:00

I wrote here last month about the battle for consumers’ attention among old media and new media. That’s only part of the problem.Ther battle for advertising dollars is more intense than ever, as an expanding menu of media forms and players vie for what is essentially a fixed pool of advertiser expenditures. Lots of folks are counting on advertising for survival, if not generous profits.

Media Monopoly? Investors Don't Think So. Yet More Evidence of a Competitive Industry

2005-09-06T12:10:00.000-04:00

For anyone who still maintains there is anything even approaching a media monopoly among U.S. media, Adam Thierer and colleague Dan English put another notch in the empirical arsenal that blows away any such assertions. Taking yet another approach (beyond concentration ratios, audience market share, etc. etc.) Thierer and English examine the value that investors give the largest media

Even Largest Media Companies Could Disappear if they Don’t Adapt to Changing Consumer Usage. Does Anyone Remember Korevtte's? Bradlees? W.T. Grants?

2005-08-23T11:11:00.000-04:00

That the make-up and competitiveness of television has changed dramatically since the 1980s can be gleaned in the following list of the ten programs with the highest rating since Nielsen began measuring audiences. Only one of the ten is from the time since the start of the fourth network (Fox) in 1986 and that single event was part of the Winter Olympics from early 1994. Four of the 10 were from

"Rebuilding Media" Blog a Welcome Addition as a Forum for Discussing News Media Structure and Mission

2005-08-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

I want to call you attention to a new blog has been created at the Corante site called Rebuilding Media. It was organized by two journalists with impressive news and online credentials. Vin Crosbie, a fifth generation news man, was the first director of online publishing at News Corp. Robert Cauthorn is a former vice president of digital media at the San Francisco Chronicle and was the third

FCC's DSL Ruling Will Help Spur Competition for Broadband "Last Mile"

2005-08-11T12:24:00.000-04:00

There’s been much ink and many bits written about the FCC’s unanimous decision last week largely freeing the telcos to wholesale their DSL service on their own terms—including not at all. This puts them on a level playing field with the cable operators, who were ruled to be freed of such wholesale requirements in the recent Brand X Supreme Court decision.Those who disagreed with the decision were

And the Largest National Radio Programming Network is....?

2005-08-03T14:24:00.000-04:00

Quick: What’s the largest group of uniformly programmed radio stations in the U.S.? Did you say Clear Channel? Wrong. Infinity? Wrong. The answer is….National Public Radio--NPR.Non-commercial radio has become a major media force. Primarily on the FM band, it has grown faster than the number of radio stations overall. Accounting for 6% of all stations in 1970, public radio stations multiplied in

Media Content is Becoming More Complex, More Socially Involving

2005-07-26T08:13:00.000-04:00

So much of what critics of media industry structure harp on is how the big media players dumb down the media. They’re only interested in earnings, goes the litany, so they pander to the lowest common denominator. We are becoming a nation of couch potatoes. Video games teach violence and take kids away from what they should be doing after school—homework and watching C-Span.Now along comes a book,

U.S. Has Most Diverse Media "in the World" Concludes Canadian Research Scholar in Harvard Study

2005-07-13T08:15:00.000-04:00

In most industries the central concern about the degree of competition is economic: the degree of pricing power that the players have. For the most part, the agenda behind the contentious issue of media ownership policies centers not on prices but around diversity of content. Except for the occasional mention of allegedly unchecked cable rates, we don’t hear people complaining about the pricing

Penn State Study Finds Media Diversity Fostered by Vigorous Media Entrepreneurship

2005-07-06T08:48:00.000-04:00

A new body of research just being developed appears to support the contention that the media industry is being driven by upstart entrepreneurs rather than by the staid big media companies. The research is in a formative stage. But if further work supports the findings to date it would bode well for the diversity and quality of the media.The research has been lead by Anne Hoag at the School of

Analysis: Winners and Losers in the Supreme Court's ISP Broadband Ruling

2005-06-29T08:13:00.000-04:00

You’ve seen the basics of the Brand X case: Cable companies are not required to sell access to competing ISPs if that’s what the FCC so rules. And it is highly likely that the FCC will now level the playing field for DSL facilities of the telecos.So what does that mean? Who are the winners and losers?It’s not as obvious as it may at first seem.The self-styled consumerists are already complaining.

Demythification: The Urban Legend of Clear Channel's KCJB, Minot, ND

2005-06-24T15:30:00.000-04:00

This entry is a bit lengthy because I want to again address the need to employ fact and understanding to trump selective perception and social agenda mongering in determining media structure policy.I have no need or interest to come to the defense of any media company, large or small. They can carry their own water.But I do enjoy deflating urban legends. And much of what passes for “fact” or “

Major Internet Portals Shaping Up as True Competitors for "Television" Advertisers and Audiences

2005-06-22T17:38:00.000-04:00

Competition in television continues to heat up. Not only are the phone companies like Verizon busy implanting fiber optic cable to residences and lining up programming in their assault on the cable and DBS providers, but the Internet is building its video muscle as well. AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo, among others, are becoming serious media players. Although AOL is part of the largest of the

The Day the Courts Throw Out all FCC Ownership Regulations

2005-06-20T20:23:00.000-04:00

The Supreme Court announced last week that it would not review an Appeals Court ruling that instructed the FCC to come up with stronger justification for its media ownership rules. When the Third Circuit told the FCC to go back to the drawing board there was much crowing among those who favor 1950s regulation for a 21st century information landscape. This despite the fact that the Appeals Court

Love and Marriage: Viacom's Divorce is a Natural Part of Media Industry Evolution

2005-06-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

One of the wonderful things about documentation (whether text, aural or visual) is that it's akin to leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to find your way back to where you started. For those of us in the research and analysis business, it's a method for keeping score: what did you say, when did you say it and how accurate were you? However, most of the time it is too daunting to go back into volumes

More Than 1000 New Periodicals Started in 2004 Indicates Robustness of Old Media

2005-06-13T21:59:00.000-04:00

With so much attention focused on electronic media and the Internet, we may lose sight of the robustness of older media, in particular magazine publishing. When last I checked for the 3rd edition of Who Owns the Media? there were nearly 12,000 different titles, ranging from mass circulation titles like Reader’s Digest to small political titles like The Nation and thousands of titles aimed at

Editorial Cartoon Captures Spirit of Peercasting

2005-06-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

I few weeks ago I posted an entry called Peercasting as the New Western Frontier. In short, it asks whether the easy access the Internet has created to self expression formats such as blogs and podcasting may not be providing the same sort of safety net for ideas and opinions as the Western frontier provided in the early 19th century for those seeking self-made opportunity.Clearly others are

For Decades Number of Radio Stations Grew, Advertising Declined, Ownership Caps Unchanged. What Would You Expect?

2005-06-06T16:55:00.000-04:00

I said on May 24 I’d get back to radio. For the small but vocal segment of the population that spends much time mulling about the media industry, the changes in the radio business in the past decade may seem to be immense. And it was, though only in the context of how little the industry changed structurally in the previous 70 years. The radio industry had seen only one or two “inflection points’

Adam Thierer's New Book on Media Ownership Now Available

2005-06-06T16:02:00.000-04:00

Adam Thierer's much anticipated book, Media Myths: Making Sense Of The Debate Over Media Ownership has been published. It's a real tour d’force. He contends:No matter how large any given media outlet is today, it is ultimately just one of hundreds of sources of news, information, and entertainment that we have at our collective disposal," Thierer says. "It is just one voice in our contemporary

A Critical Need for Restructuring the Media Industry Before It’s Too Late?

2005-05-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

Let me play Devil's Advocate here. An unintended consequence of the information technologies that have become widely available in the last two decades is a dangerous fragmentation of culture and community. Millions of blogs compete for our attention. We’re on the verge of hundreds of video options available via cable and satellite and the Internet. New players providing satellite radio are adding

Peercasting as the New Western Frontier

2005-05-27T15:18:00.000-04:00

I hope that somewhere along your educational path you were exposed to the seminal work of historian Frederick Jackson Turner. Perhaps to refresh your memory, in 1893 he presented his view that the key component to the unique American character of democracy was the settlement of the American West. That is, the availability of vast stretches of free land away from the initial settlements of the

Radio Redux: Radio Has Been Less Local Than You May Think

2005-05-24T12:46:00.000-04:00

In an article in last Sunday’s Boston Globe, Michele Hilmes, a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of Wisconsin, wrote how radio is being reinvigorated and reinvented by new methods of transmission such as the Internet, satellite and even podcasting. Her conclusion is very compatible with the discussion in my new study of the considerable robustness of the radio landscape,

WOTM FAQ #3: Are the Media Monolithic? Can they Suppress the News?

2005-05-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

A FAQ series featuring some real questions I have answered from time to time.I received an email this week from a stranger. I reprint it below with my response. I hadn’t heard about the ”conspiracy” about the 10 Downing St. memo until I did some quick Googling about the issue. One of my first finds was an article by Washington Post ombudsman Michel Getler in which he noted that two self appointed

Media "Reform" Conference Finds Plenty of Media Available to Report on It

2005-05-18T07:30:00.000-04:00

A conference of a sort was held last weekend in St. Louis called the National Conference on Media Reform to “mobilize to fix our broken media system.” According to the conference Web site, among its grievances are “shoddy journalism”, “government-funded propaganda,” and “corporate consolidation.”In a column reporting on the event,

Optical Illusions and Media Ownership: A Lesson for Policymakers

2005-05-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

Many years ago I was returning from a trip through Canada’s Maritime Provinces when I stumbled on a tourist spot called Magnetic Hill. It was what looked to be simply a hill you could drive down. At the bottom, you put your car in neutral, released the brake– and the car rolled backward– seemingly up the hill. It was a disconcerting feeling and it certainly strained credulity.An enterprising

Where are Newspapers at "Dominant" Media Companies?

2005-05-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

Quick: Name the three most influential newspapers in the United States today.Did you say The New York Times? The Washington Post? The Wall Street Journal? There may be one or two others: The L.A. Times; maybe, in its fashion, USA Today. Even in this age of falling newspaper circulation, these newspapers often set the agenda for what gets covered by the TV news operations. I can't count the number

"Bill of Media Rights" Further Decomposed

2005-05-10T16:43:00.000-04:00

Adam Thierer, in his Blog today, takes apart the underlying presumptions of those who hold that the First Amendment is fundamentally about the people's right of access to private media. The First Amendment "does not serve as an affirmative grant of access to privately owned media."Rather than repeat Adam's well reasoned and documented argument, you should read it for yourself. Even those who

"Bill of Media Rights" May Not Be What it Seems

2005-05-09T18:13:00.000-04:00

An advocacy group that calls itself the Media and Democracy Coalition held a news conference in Washington today to announce The Bill of Media Rights. The Preamble starts positively enough, proclaiming "A free and vibrant media, full of diverse and competing voices, is the lifeblood of America’s democracy and culture, as well as an engine of growth for its economy." No quibbles from me about this

My New Study: "Media Monopoly Myth"

2005-05-04T15:09:00.000-04:00

The New Millennium Research Council released my newest study today, The Media Monopoly Myth: How New Competition is Expanding Our Sources of Information and Entertainment.Consistent with my findings over the past 25 years, it provides new empirical data that undercuts the myth that U.S. media ownership is over concentrated today. The study finds that fears about media control have reached the

WOTM FAQ, Part 2

2005-01-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

Some real questions I have answered from time to time, often from students writing papers who e-mail me for some primary research points.How ethical is it for corporations who own media to try to make a profit?Ethical? Ethical? Profit is not a matter of ethics. A newspaper never went out of business for lack of content, but only for lack of revenue to pay a staff an acceptable wage, mainatin its

WOTM FAQ, Part 1

2005-01-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

Some questions I have answered from time to time, often from students writing papers who e-mail me for some primary research points. Is there bias in the news media today?First, see Bernard Goldberg’s books, Bias and Arrogance. Goldberg, a long-time CBS News reporter, provides dozens of examples of bias. Crucial, though, he believes it is not institutional, i.e.,

The Technology Liberation Front: Senate hearing / testimony on media ownership

2004-12-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

[This was posted by Adam Thierer at The Technology Liberation Front blog on September 28, 2004]The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing today on media ownership regulation and I was invited to testify. Here's the link to my [Adam's] testimony.All the charts and tables you will see in the appendix of my testimony will appear in my forthcoming book Media Myths: Making Sense of the Debate over

More Competition or Less in TV? You Decide

2004-12-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

The debate on media competition constantly keep returning to television. Yeah, there's a declining newspaper industry and a robust radio business. There are thousands of book and magazine publishers. Oh yeah, the Internet. But the 600 pounds gorilla in the room is always television.So lets look at what really matters in TV land, eyeballs.Over the period 1960 to 1980, there commercial broadcast

Competition and the Media

2004-12-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

About this Blog This forum is about media ownership and competition. Notice I don't say media concentration. They are two sides of the coin. As more competition is generally viewed as better than less, I favor speaking about the degree of competition in the media industry. It is also about empirical data on the subject. It seeks to add to an informed debate. Not one based on anecdotal stories