Media Ownership Concentration
How consolidation of media ownership into fewer hands affects the diversity of news, public discourse, and democratic accountability.
Fewer Owners, Fewer Voices
In 1983, fifty companies controlled the majority of American media. By 2024, that number had shrunk to roughly six: Comcast (NBC), Disney (ABC), Paramount (CBS), Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN), Fox Corporation, and a handful of digital giants. Similar consolidation has occurred globally. In Australia, two companies — News Corp and Nine Entertainment — dominate print and broadcast media. In France, a handful of billionaires own most major outlets.
Consolidation matters because media diversity is a precondition for informed public discourse. When fewer companies control more outlets, the range of perspectives, stories, and investigations available to the public narrows. Local news is especially vulnerable — when a chain acquires local newspapers, it typically centralizes operations and cuts local reporting staff.
