Media Ownership and Concentration
Who owns the news you read, and how does concentrated ownership affect the diversity of perspectives you encounter?
Who Owns Your News?
In 1983, 50 companies controlled 90% of American media. By 2024, that number had shrunk to roughly 6 major conglomerates: Comcast (NBC, MSNBC, Universal), Disney (ABC, ESPN, FX, Hulu), Paramount Global (CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon), Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN, HBO, TBS), Fox Corporation (Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports), and News Corp (Wall Street Journal, New York Post, HarperCollins). Add tech platforms — Google, Meta, Apple News — and the concentration deepens further.
This matters because ownership shapes editorial priorities. When Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013, many wondered whether coverage of Amazon would change. When Rupert Murdoch's News Corp owns both The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, the opinion pages and news coverage may reflect the owner's worldview even without direct intervention, through hiring decisions, editorial emphasis, and cultural norms.
Concentration isn't inherently evil — large organizations can fund expensive investigations that small outlets cannot. But when fewer voices control more outlets, the range of perspectives narrows. Stories that might embarrass the parent company or its business partners are less likely to be pursued.