Chapter 14. Media Ownership: Diversity Versus Efficiency in a Changing Technological Environment

The role of media – whether television, newspapers, radio, or the Internet – in supplying the ideas that shape our viewpoints and cultures is such that the dangers that may accompany concentrations of ownership in this sector are well recognized. Ownership patterns affect not only pluralism, but also how well the media industry is able to manage its resources and so, in turn, the efficiency and economic strength of this sector. Everywhere they take place, public policy debates around which configurations and what level of ownership of media ought to be permissible are a site for conflicting viewpoints. Some suggest that the greater choice made possible by advances in digital technology and changing patterns of consumption obviate the need for restrictive interventions. However, despite digitization and the growth of the Internet, gravitation towards monopoly remains a marked feature of the industry and, as explained in this chapter, the need for diverse ownership of predominant traditional media remains a concern. A new era of consolidation and cross-platform expansion by established and emergent media players presents regulators with complex and difficult challenges. In examining the economic motives that drive strategies of expansion in the media, this chapter highlights the tension between, on the one hand, sociocultural concerns associated with media empire-building and, on the other hand, economic and industrial policy priorities surrounding media ownership.