Media Concentration and Democracy ：Why Ownership Matters ( Communication, Society and Politics )

Publication subTitle ：Why Ownership Matters

Publication series ：Communication, Society and Politics

Author： C. Edwin Baker

Publisher： Cambridge University Press‎

Publication year： 2006

E-ISBN: 9780511258398

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780521868327

Subject： G2 Dissemination of Information and Knowledge

Keyword：信息与知识传播

Language： ENG

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Media Concentration and Democracy

Description

Firmly rooting its argument in democratic and economic theory, the book argues that a more democratic distribution of communicative power within the public sphere and a structure that provides safeguards against abuse of media power provide two of three primary arguments for ownership dispersal. It also shows that dispersal is likely to result in more owners who will reasonably pursue socially valuable journalistic or creative objectives rather than a socially dysfunctional focus on the 'bottom line'. The middle chapters answer those agents, including the Federal Communication Commission, who favor 'deregulation' and who argue that existing or foreseeable ownership concentration is not a problem. The final chapter evaluates the constitutionality and desirability of various policy responses to concentration, including strict limits on media mergers.

Chapter

1 Democracy at the Crossroads: Why Ownership Matters

THE THREE MAIN REASONS FOR OPPOSING OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION

1 A More Democratic Distribution of Communicative Power

2 Democratic Safeguards

3 Quality and the Bottom Line

ADDITIONAL STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

4 Vulnerability to Outside Pressure

5 Internal Distortions

6 Inefficient Synergies

7 A Pragmatic Aside

8 Countervailing Benefits?

2 Not a Real Problem: Many Owners, Many Sources

COMPAINE’S ANALYSIS AND THE CHICAGO SCHOOL APPROACH TO ANTITRUST

Media as a Whole Is Not the Relevant Market

Power over Price Fails as a Surrogate for Antitrust’s: Proper Socio-Political Concerns

Even This Enlarged Conception of Antitrust Is Insufficient to Account for the Fundamental Reasons (Discussed in Chapter 1) to Limit Concentration

THE FCC’S DIVERSITY INDEX

3 Not a Real Problem: The Market or the Internet Will Provide

THE MARKET CONTROLS AND PROVIDES

THE INTERNET AS A SOLUTION

INTERNET EFFECTS

DOES THE INTERNET ELIMINATE CONCERNS ABOUT CONCENTRATION?

Investment in Quality Content

Dangers of Concentrated Communicative Power

Democratic Distribution of Communicative Power

4 The First Amendment Guarantee of a Free Press: An Objection to Regulation?

THE FIRST AMENDMENT AS A LIMIT ON GOVERNMENT POWER: THREE PREMISES

Ultimate Beneficiary of Press Freedom

The Aims of Press Freedom

Judicial Activism

THE ULTIMATE BENEFICIARY (OR BASIS) OF PRESS FREEDOMS

UNDERMINING FIRST AMENDMENT AIMS

Purpose/Effects Analysis

Aims of the Freedom of the Press Guarantee

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: THE PROPER LEVEL AND FORM OF SCRUTINY

THE FIRST AMENDMENT AS REQUIRING LIMITS ON CONCENTRATION?

5 Solutions and Responses

FLAWED REGULATORY LIMITS ON OWNERSHIP

Limiting Reach or Audience of a Media Entity

Prohibition on a Media Firm Creating New Media Entities

POLICY PROPOSALS

1 Antitrust Law

2 Require Government Approval for Merger

3 Prohibit Mergers That Increase Concentration or Involve Takeover by Nonmedia Firms

4 Editorial Independence

5 Require Journalists' Approval for Merger

6 Tax and Subsidy Policies Encouraging Dispersal and Discouraging Concentration

7 Special Responsibilities Imposed on Large Media Firms

Postscript: Policy Opportunism

A More Democratic Distribution of Communicative Power

Risk Reduction: Avoiding Demagogic Power and Promoting the Watchdog Role

Reducing Consequences of Market Failures in Content Production and Provision

POLICY SUMMARY

Notes

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. Democracy at the Crossroads: Why Ownership Matters

Chapter 2. Not a Real Problem: Many Owners, Many Sources

Chapter 3. Not a Real Problem: The Market or the Internet Will Provide

Chapter 4. The First Amendment Guarantee of a Free Press: An Objection to Regulation?

Chapter 5. Solutions and Responses

Postscript

Index

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