Democracy & Media Monopolization

I’ve written here and there on the subject of “free press/media” in the past, but in light of the recent National Conference on Media Reform it seemed as good a time as any to harp on this unpleasant issue once again.  It’s often been argued that a free media is one of the cornerstones of a successful democratic system of governance, but the question of what precisely marks media as “free” has been one the United States has struggled with for at least a century.  In light of a number of successful examples of public media around the world, as well as the increasing issues with media consolidation, the US model of success through private competition grows steadily more uncertain.

Unlike our founders, my issues with a free and autonomous press center more upon corporations and private interests than they do our government.  Here our nation, and perhaps the broader world, given the impacts of globalization, is in a precarious position.  Increasing consolidation in the companies which control the flow of information has recently become the norm, and where corporate interests are concerned, at least in the United States the opinions of those who govern us are somewhat suspect.  Given the amount of influence over voters held by organizations which control the means of information sharing, should legislative decisions in support of these groups be even mildly surprising?  In the world of information and media if nowhere else, market tendencies seems distinctly contrary to any understanding of freedom and diversity.

Particularly in the area of the internet as a medium of information dissemination, this question of freedom is becoming increasingly relevant and timely.  Recently the US Congress took action to nullify the net neutrality order issued by the FCC earlier this year.  Part of the problem is that net neutrality isn’t a cut and dry issue, on either side of the political aisle legislators are influenced by corporate interests.  At the same time however, the issue isn’t purely one of economic gain and clientelism.  As evidenced in the attempts of authoritarian regimes around the world to control new media or in the United States reactions to the WikiLeaks scandals, there is significant political interest in controlling these venues of information.

For many, especially in the developed world, these issues tend to rest on the sidelines.  Seen primarily as issues of business and corporate interests, the impact of media consolidation on governance is rarely been investigated.  It is certainly worth asking however, just what impact corporate monopolization of the media is currently having and might potentially have in the future, on manipulating the information the public has access to and thus influencing the processes of governance.  In assisting nations in the development of democratic governance this question of access to information via a free press is a critical one, and one has to wonder just who is empowered by the current model of private ownership.