Who controls the media today? There are many media systems across the globe that claim to be free yet whose independence has been eroded. As demagogues rise, independent voices have been squeezed out. Corporate-owned media companies that act in the service of power increasingly exercise soft censorship. Tech giants such as Facebook and Google have dramatically changed how people access information, with consequences that are only beginning to be felt. This book features pathbreaking analysis from journalists and academics of the changing nature and peril of media capture—how formerly independent institutions fall under the sway of governments, plutocrats, and corporations. Contributors including Emily Bell, Felix Salmon, Joshua Marshall, Joel Simon, and Nikki Usher analyze diverse cases of media capture worldwide—from the United Kingdom to Turkey to India and beyond—many drawn from firsthand experience. They examine the role played by new media companies and funders, showing how the confluence of the growth of big tech and falling revenues for legacy media has led to new forms of control. Contributions also shed light on how the rise of right-wing populists has catalyzed the crisis of global media. They also chart a way forward, exploring the growing need for a policy response and sustainable models for public-interest investigative journalism. Providing valuable insight into today’s urgent threats to media independence, Media Capture is essential reading for anyone concerned with defending press freedom in the digital age.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The concentration of private power over media has been the subject of intense public debate around the world. Critics have long feared waves of mergers creating a handful of large media firms that would hold sway over public opinion and endanger democracy and innovation. But others believe with equal fervor that the Internet and deregulation have opened the media landscape significantly. How concentrated has the American information sector really become? What are the facts about American media ownership? In this contentious environment, Eli Noam provides a comprehensive and balanced survey of media concentration with a methodical, scientific approach. He assembles a wealth of data from the last 25 years about mass media such as radio, television, film, music, and print publishing, as well as the Internet, telecommunications, and media-related information technology. After examining 100 separate media and network industries in detail, Noam provides a powerful summary and analysis of concentration trends across industries and major media sectors. He also looks at local media power, vertical concentration, and the changing nature of media ownership through financial institutions and private equity. The results reveal a reality much more complex than the one painted by advocates on either side of the debate. They show a dynamic system that fluctuates around long-term concentration trends driven by changing economics and technology. Media Ownership and Concentration in America will be essential reading and a trove of information for scholars and students in media, telecommunications, IT, economics, and the history of business, as well as media industry professionals, business researchers, and policy makers around the world. Critics and defenders of media trends alike will find much that confirms and refutes their world view. But the next round of their debate will be shaped by the facts presented in this book.

"This book presents a comprehensive, integrative, and global view of what has been called the digital divide"--Provided by publisher.

One of the foremost media critics provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic and political powers that are being mobilized to consolidate private control of media with increasing profit--all at the expense of democracy.

Who Owns the World's Media? moves beyond the rhetoric of free media and free markets to provide a dispassionate and data-driven analysis of global media ownership trends and their drivers. Based on an extensive data collection effort from scholars around the world, the book covers 13 media industries, including television, newspapers, book publishing, film, search engines, ISPs, wireless telecommunication and others, across a 10-25 year period in 30 countries.

Theoretically grounded and using quantitative data spanning more than 50 years together with qualitative research, this book examines investigative journalism’s role in liberal democracies in the past and in the digital age. In its ideal form, investigative reporting provides a check on power in society and therefore can strengthen democratic accountability. The capacity is important to address now because the political and economic environment for journalism has changed substantially in recent decades. In particular, the commercialization of the Internet has disrupted the business model of traditional media outlets and the ways news content is gathered and disseminated. Despite these disruptions, this book’s central aim is to demonstrate using empirical research that investigative journalism is not in fact in decline in developed economies, as is often feared.

The revolution in digital communications has altered the relationship between citizens and political elites, with important implications for democracy. As new information ecosystems have evolved, as unforeseen examples of their positive and negative consequences have emerged, and as theorizing, data, and research methods have expanded and improved, the central question has shifted from if the digital information environment is good or bad for democratic politics to how and in what contexts particular attributes of this environment are having an influence. It is only through the careful analysis of specific cases that we can begin to build a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the role of digital media in democratic theory and practice. The essays in Digital Media and Democratic Futures focus on a variety of information and communication technologies, politically relevant actors, substantive issues, and digital political practices, doing so from distinct theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Individually, each of these case studies provides deep insights into the complex and context-dependent relationship between media and democracy. Collectively, they show that there is no single outcome for democracy in the digital age, only a range of possible futures. Contributors: Rena Bivens, Michael X. Delli Carpini, Jennifer Earl, Thomas Elliott, Deen Freelon, Kelly Gates, Philip N. Howard, Daniel Kreiss, Ting Luo, Helen Nissenbaum, Beth Simone Noveck, Jennifer Pan, Lisa Poggiali, Daniela Stockmann.

"...this book can be recommended to journalism students as a useful entry point into many of the debates surrounding 21st century journalism, and as a way of encouraging thought about what, indeed, a journalist may be." Tony Harcup, University of Sheffield What are the key issues confronting journalism today, and why? What are the important debates regarding the forms and practices of reporting? How can the quality of news be improved? Journalism: Critical Issues explores essential themes in news and journalism studies. It bringstogether an exciting selection of original essays which engage with the most significant topics,debates and controversies in this fast-growing field.Using a wide range of case studies, topics include: Journalism’s role in a democracy Source dynamics in news production Journalism ethics Sexism and racism in the news Tabloidization, scandals and celebrity Reporting conflict, terrorism and war The future of investigative journalism The book is written in a lively manner designed to invite discussion by identifying key questionsaround a critical issue. Each chapter assesses where journalism is today, its strengths and itschallenges, and highlights ways to improve upon it for tomorrow. Journalism: Critical Issues is essential reading for students and researchers in the fields ofnews and journalism, media studies, cultural studies, sociology and communication studies. Contributors: Stuart Allan, Alison Anderson, Olga Guedes Bailey, Steven Barnett,Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Michael Bromley, Cynthia Carter, Simon Cottle, Chas Critcher,Matthew David, Máire Messenger Davies, Bob Franklin, Robert A. Hackett, RamaswamiHarindranath, Ian Hutchby, Richard Keeble, Justin Lewis, Minelle Mahtani, P. David Marshall,Brian McNair, Martin Montgomery, Alan Petersen, Susanna Hornig Priest, Jane Rhodes,Karen Ross, David Rowe, Prasun Sonwalkar, Linda Steiner, Howard Tumber, Ingrid Volkmer,Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Barbie Zelizer.