Announcing the AOL Time Warner merger. |
Digital
technologies may promise a host of new channels and activities, but the stranglehold
of big business is set to tighten, says leading media commentator Robert McChesney*
Do
you see digital convergence as a technological process or as a wider change in the
media?
The notion that there is technological convergence is undeniable. The transition
to digital format of virtually all media and forms of communication is on its way
to being completed in the near future. But the convergence of media ownership is
even more striking, and in many respects anticipates technological convergence. For
most consumers, it’s the convergence of ownership that has probably had the most
direct effect on their media experience to date. And I think these changes in ownership
will go a long way towards shaping how the digital world will eventually look.
How exactly is ownership changing?
The crucial trend is vertical integration, or more broadly, conglomeration of
media ownership. In the United States for example–and this is a pattern that could
have been found in most countries with market economies–the media industries such
as music or cinema in the 1950s each tended to be dominated by three or four different
companies. What has happened in the U.S. and globally over the last 50 years is that
the largest media companies have become conglomerates, meaning that the largest film
studio also owns a television network or a music company, radio stations, magazines,
cable systems, satellite systems, video rental chains.1 What you have is a tremendous
web of power built up by the largest firms, which have become dominant players in
several media sectors. All this predates digital convergence. Digital convergence
is really the cherry on top of the sundae.
But will the new digital technology not offer greater choice and allow new companies
to enter the market?
There is a paradox with the rise of the Internet specifically and digital communications
more broadly. The standard belief has been that all of a sudden, the traditional
market power of these media giants is going to fall because the barriers to entering
media markets are being radically lowered, if not eliminated. But the problem with
this theory is that it’s technology driven. It makes perfect sense technologically,
but what it misses–and this is the perceived wisdom on Wall Street–is that new technologies
are not going to spawn a wave of commercially viable media entrepreneurs or businesses
due to the market power of existing companies. Technologies are developed in the
market for the most part, and the ones that are aggressively pursued and promoted
are the ones most likely to offer a profitable return for the dominant companies.
What effects does concentration have on the media we consume?
Firstly, you see the incessant rise of what I call hyper-commercialism, meaning
that these companies are quite rationally trying to make a profit from every aspect
of their media services–something they can do much more easily in a non-competitive
market. If you don’t like the fact that in the U.S. the average commercial radio
station has 18 to 20 minutes of advertisements per hour, you don’t really have any
alternative, they all do the same. The flipside of this prevalence of commercial
values throughout our media culture is a decline in public service content. Journalism
that does hard investigation or raises serious social issues doesn’t make economic
sense for these companies–it costs a lot of money and the pay-off isn’t high. Furthermore,
the largest media companies now rank among the largest firms in the entire economy.
These companies are not neutral bystanders on the sidelines of society. They’re main
players right in the heart of it, with distinct self-interests on the crucial issues
of the day.
What do you believe should be done?
Our traditional notions of what proper media ownership is must be re-evaluated.
But the sort of public and political debate on the issues, at least in the U.S.,
is the last thing on earth large media companies want to encourage. As long as this
issue is kept in the smoke-filled back rooms and lobbyists talk to politicians, the
position we have now will continue.
* Professor
of Communications at the University of Illinois
1. The seven largest media conglomerates in the world are now Disney, AOL-Time Warner,
Sony, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi and Bertelsmann |
