Guest Post by Rebecca Strong
Billionaires who buy legacy newspapers are often presented as benevolent saviors of a dying industry, but can we depend on the media to challenge the powerful when they’re the ones paying writers’ salaries?
Author’s note: In a recent Twitter survey I conducted, nearly 90% of people rated their trust in mainstream media as either “very low” or “low.” And is it any surprise?
Ever-mounting media consolidation has narrowed the perspectives the public is privy to, ownership and funding of these corporations are riddled with conflicts of interest, crucial stories keep suspiciously getting buried and big tech companies are outright censoring and demonetizing independent outlets trying to break through the noise.
The media is supposed to function as a power check — and a means of arming us with vital information for shaping the society we want to live in. It’s never been a more important industry.
And it’s never been more at risk.
In this series, which I kicked off with a piece about the problematic history of media consolidation, I tackle each factor threatening the media’s ability to serve our democracy — with input from journalists, media critics and professors and other experts.
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” — A. J. Liebling, 1960
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