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Posted on November 18, 2003
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Journalism/Media
PND Connections - Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age: Promoting Diversity with First Amendment Principles and Market Structure Analysis
According to a 1945 Supreme Court ruling, the First Amendment "rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." A report published by the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School warns that many voices in the United States may be quashed if the trend toward media consolidation continues unchecked. Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age: Promoting Diversity with First Amendment Principles and Market Structure Analysis (313 pages, PDF) by Mark Cooper provides a thorough critique of a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership rules. The report examines why media ownership matters, analyzes media economics, and discusses trends in print journalism and electronic mass media. The Ford Foundation provided significant support for the report through its funding to the Consumer Federation of America, where Cooper is the director of research.
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