Article in FAIR by Caitlin Scialla, 2/4/26
Headline: “The Digital Media Oligarchy: Who Owns Online News?”
“When Ben Bagdikian, an esteemed journalist and early FAIR contributor, published his groundbreaking book The Media Monopoly in 1983, he painted a troubling picture of US media consolidation, reporting that 50 corporations controlled the media business. With each reprint, that number dwindled. When FAIR replicated his analysis in 2011 , it stood at 20. . .”
Read the full article at:
https://fair.org/home/the-digital-media-oligarchy-who-owns-online-news/
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Article in The Guardian by Rafael Behr, 2/4/26
Headline: “When Maga oligarchs control the platforms, it isn’t really a debate about ‘free speech’ ”
Subhead: “Moves to ban under-16s from social media should raise deeper questions about who controls democracy’s digital infrastructure”
“. . .Free speech is the lens that tech companies apply because it gives a democratic inflection to their commercial interests as oligopolists in an under-regulated digital realm. Far-right politicians adopt that frame because they are in the business of undermining the norms and institutions of liberal democracy. That agenda is well served by communications infrastructure that privileges frenzied intolerance. . .”
Read the full article at: