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Media concentration is when a small number of individuals and organizations own multiple media outlets, potentially limiting access to information and influencing events like elections. Some call for regulation to increase media independence, while others believe government intervention is unnecessary. Mergers and partnerships can exacerbate the problem, and consumers may not be aware of the extent of media concentration. In countries with balanced independent media, a single entity may not have significant influence over elections, but in regions with media concentration, residents may not be getting balanced information.
Media concentration is a phenomenon in which a decreasing number of individuals and organizations own the media, effectively concentrating the ownership of multiple organizations into the control of a very few entities. This is a topic of interest to government agencies, journalists and academics studying how and where people get information about current events. Some critics believe that media concentration poses a threat to the free exchange of information and argue for the use of regulation to increase independence in the media. Others believe that government intervention is unnecessary.
The development of media concentration often spans platforms. A newspaper owner might start by purchasing other regional newspapers that appear to complement an original ownership. That part could also branch out into radio stations and television networks as well as magazines and publishing houses. Eventually, a single entity can end up with control or a voting share in a significant number of media sources.
In this scenario, while individual outlets typically act independently, they are accountable to the parent organization itself. A legal venue can dictate editorial standards and guidelines and shape the type of coverage consumers can access. In a region where media concentration allows for an effective monopoly on news providers, a single person or company could have a significant impact on the information freely accessible to residents.
This can be exacerbated by mergers between large companies or families of outlets. Members of the public are often unaware of the extent of the media concentration, as companies continue to operate under their own brand, with their own staff. While proprietary information from a parent organization is typically required by law, consumers may not see it or may not understand what it means. In some cases partner companies distribute content and consumers may encounter the same stories repeatedly, with different logos.
Concerns about media concentration surround the potential for controlling access to information, as well as the influence the media can have on events such as elections. In countries with highly balanced independent media, it may be more difficult for a single media entity to have significant influence over an election. If, on the other hand, the majority of citizens receive news from the same company through a series of seemingly different publications and broadcasters, they may get the impression that they are getting balanced information, when in reality all the agencies they encounter advance the same editorial policy.
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