What are the problems caused by media polarization?
When you open an SNS app or news app, you will be flooded with news that cannot be read even in a day, and it seems that there are countless choices of news sources. Contrary to this intuition, an article was published that warned that 'most of the information that modern people see, hear, and read is controlled by a handful of large corporations.'
Big Media, Big Conflicts of Interest, Part 1: The Consolidation Craze & Illusion of Choice
According to Boston-based writer Rebecca Strong, the number of major companies in the U.S. media industry has dropped from 50 in 1983 to nine in the 1990s. It was said that. And at the time of writing the article, it has decreased to 6 companies: Comcast, Disney, AT & T, Sony, Fox, and Paramount Global. These giants that dominate the media industry are also known as 'Big 6'.
The background to this situation is the history of media companies' repeated absorption-type mergers and enormous growth, and the history of changes in the legal system that made it possible. In the 1940s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set strict restrictions on a company's ownership of multiple local radio, television, and broadcast networks. Also, in the 1970s, the same company in principle banned ownership of both newspapers and television and radio stations.
However, major deregulation in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan's administration increased the number of television stations that a single company could own, creating a wave of mergers in the media industry. In addition, President Bill Clinton signed an amendment to the Telecommunications Act in 1996, allowing large companies that already dominate the media market to make further acquisitions and mergers, which will be responsible for local news. Small media such as news agencies were forced to withdraw or sell themselves.
After that, the remaining regulation such as 'Independent stations cannot own multiple TV stations in a market with less than 8 stations' was abolished in 2017, and in 2021 the Supreme Court said 'FCC relaxes the rule on ownership of media companies'. By overturning the Court of Appeals' ruling that 'the impact on women and the minority must be investigated before,' there are few American rules and laws that prevent the media from becoming huge.
The oligopolistic impact of the media market is steadily surfaced. According to a 2018 survey, more than 2000 counties in the United States (63.6% of the total) do not have their own dailys, and 1449 counties (46%) have only one daily. In the area called 'News Desert' where there is no local media, the number of candidates for the mayoral election is small, the turnout is low, and political corruption is becoming more serious. The lack of community-based news media has forced many to rely on social media for information.
The rise of giant media companies has created not only the issue of competition in the news market, but also the duplication of executives of media companies, that is, 'one executive has an influence on many media companies'. increase. In a 2021 survey, 30% of newspaper editors said they 'have been under news pressure from their parent company and its board of directors.' In another 2000 survey, half of investigative journalists said 'no valuable news was broadcast,' and 61% said 'company owners decided not to report articles.' I think it had a lot of influence. '
In this regard, Strong said, 'As rock musician Jim Morrison once said,'The one who controls the media controls the heart of the person,' people allow anyone to control their heart. Perhaps it's time to ask ourselves, 'he said, calling for a system to curb the polarization of media companies and offset the negative effects of monopoly.
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