One of the most important books on the subject of the mass mediaùor more specifically, whatÆs wrong with the mediaùis Ben BagdikianÆs The Media Monopoly, first published in 1983, and republished several times since then. In his book, Bagdikian warns of the dangers posed by monopolistic control of newspapers, television, movies, magazines, radio, and books by a few major corporations. When Bagdikian first wrote his book, there were 50 corporations controlling the media listed above; by the publication of the sixth edition of the book in 2000, the number of corporations had greatly shrunk. ôSix firms dominate all American mass media. Each is a subsidiary of a larger parent firm, some of them basically operating in other industriesö (x). Of the six firms, two are foreign (Australia and Germany).
This new edition includes the impact of the Internet and other new media but, as Bagdikian points out, the new media forms have not altered the small number of corporate ownership, as the merger of Time Warner with American Online, Inc. indicates. The major theme of the book is the broad dangers posed to a democratic society by monopolistic control of the mass media. Bagdikian maintains that the small number of corporations that own the media also own America. He writes, ôMedia power is political powerö (lvii), and ôMedia corporations control access to the American mindö (91) In a democratic society such as the U.S., the notion of free speech and a free press is paramount to its proper functioning, and, in fact, is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. According to Bagdikian, the concentration of all media in the hands of a few powerful corporations limits diversity of opinion and the democratic distribution of ideas and information, with the result of crippling true free speech. Only diverse ownership of the media can guarantee diversity of opinion.
Another key idea of the book is that media now exists solely for the purpose of...