Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy

The trend toward U.S. media consolidation has been bad for journalistic independence, argues WatchDog Opinion. The buyout of CBS by Paramount is just the most recent example. Photo: Antonio Longo via Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

WatchDog Opinion: Why Media Consolidation Threatens Press Freedom, Democracy

By Joseph A. Davis

There’s one thing that’s more dangerous than Donald Trump for press freedom in the United States: mega-media conglomerates that depend on Trump for permission to get bigger.

Consolidation has been a trend in U.S. news media for decades, and it hasn’t been good for journalistic independence. But in the past decade — as Trump has consolidated power — it has been fueling a rightward and authoritarian shift.

The current case in point is the Ellison empire. Larry Ellison, co-founder of software company Oracle, was at one time the richest man in the world. Today, he is only the second-richest (hovering around $340 billion at press time). His magnate son, David, started out in movies but today is a mogul-magnate himself.

It’s telling, in fact, that we routinely apply the term “empire” to a media company. It once was reserved for figures like Genghis Khan.

The Ellison family has set their sights on owning CBS, CNN, Warner Bros. Studio, Warner Bros. Discovery, Skydance, Paramount … and now a piece of TikTok. We may have left a few out, and some buyouts are still pending, but this gives you an idea.

Trump is a pal of Larry Ellison. And has been a big patron of the consolidation.

 

Consolidation’s checkered history

Trump’s Federal Communications Commission, now chaired by Trump loyalist Brendan Carr, has made several decisions recently that have allowed the consolidation of media companies.

The price? Censorship.

It may be no coincidence that Stephen Colbert’s late-night show was canceled by CBS this year — at a time when his network had touchy merger business before the FCC and Colbert himself was being slammed (by Trump) for satirizing Trump. The network said it was ratings.

It seemed no coincidence that Jimmy Kimmel was “suspended indefinitely” by Disney-owned ABC when Carr called for him to disappear. Yes, major ABC affiliate station groups had merger business before the FCC. After public outcry, Kimmel was restored.

 

Trump has been a big player in the

speedup of media consolidation.

It’s a trick he might have learned

from Viktor Orbán, one of his heroes.

 

Trump has been a big player in the speedup of media consolidation. It’s a trick he might have learned from Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán, one of his heroes.

Why is consolidation bad for press freedom? We can make that long story short by citing a few examples.

• Gannett: Once, the USA Today company owned the biggest fleet of U.S. daily newspapers. Then it merged with Gatehouse, another media conglomerate. Since then, it has laid off about half its workers.
• Tribune: The Tribune Company once was a chain/news service anchored by the “World’s Greatest Newspaper” (the Chicago Tribune). Then it was bought up by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that laid off reporters, chopped it up and sold it for parts.
• News Corp.: Then there’s Fox — well, let's just say the Rupert Murdoch empire, which is actually global. But between the right-wing cable channels, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, it dominates the consciousness of many Trump voters.

You may have noticed: While consolidation all but wiped out daily newspaper journalism years ago, it is now (still) happening bigly in the broadcast, online and entertainment spheres.

The bright lines on press freedom have historically been drawn in the print world (free press, get it?). These newer media — Trump and others have discovered — are way more vulnerable to political pressure because they often depend on some kind of government approval.

 

Media empires seeking

embigification need to skate

past federal antitrust issues.

 

Local broadcast stations need FCC licenses. Media empires seeking embigification need to skate past federal antitrust issues.

Trump loves the media. Trump loves to hate the media. He came into office calling the media “the enemy of the people” and threatening to use libel law against them. Some that he has sued have settled (obeying in advance).

Recently, he sued The New York Times for libel, to the tune of $15 billion, simply because they criticized him. People just laughed, and a judge threw the case out. So much for libel law.

 

Hope in the online revolution

The WatchDog hates to be a gloomy Gus. But beyond the consolidation and corporate churn, there is another revolution going on.

The online revolution has also enabled an atomistic world of independent and sometimes dissident voices doing kick-ass accountability journalism. Anybody can start a blog, a Substack, a podcast or a Bluesky account.

These media, while smaller, can be independent. And Trump can’t touch them.

Such independence can — and does — happen in environmental journalism. Small outlets like Heated and Public Domain, DeSmog and Public Health Watch, and others are practicing accountability journalism and … surviving, if not making millions.

It is good to know whether you are in the news business or the entertainment business.

Neither Alden nor Ellison will want to buy your Substack. One big lesson is that nonprofit journalism may be the future of public interest journalism.

So for some comfort, just look at the 500-odd members of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Joseph A. Davis is a freelance writer/editor in Washington, D.C. who has been writing about the environment since 1976. He writes SEJournal Online's TipSheet, Reporter's Toolbox and Issue Backgrounder, and curates SEJ's weekday news headlines service EJToday and @EJTodayNews. Davis also directs SEJ's Freedom of Information Project and writes the WatchDog opinion column.

---

* From the weekly news magazine SEJournal Online, Vol. 10, No. 38. Content from each new issue of SEJournal Online is available to the public via the SEJournal Online main page. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here. And see past issues of the SEJournal archived here.