Ownership concentration
Variety in news also means
variety in ownership
We encourage news consumers to get their news from many different sources, but that’s difficult to do when so many news outlets are owned by only a handful of companies.
While it’s rare for a company to dictate news policy to journalists, it’s not unusual for a company to define what audience it wants to attract for its advertisers. It may be women ages 18-45, men under age 18. Liberals. Conservatives. People with high incomes. There are many variations.
Each of these groups has different interests. Stories on stock market investing aren’t likely to appeal to many men under age 18, but may interest people over age 50 with high incomes. Conservatives may be interested in stories about how government spends tax dollars while liberals want information on how government programs are helping citizens.
When deciding where you want to get your news, it’s important to not only mix up providers, but also ownership groups. Picking both NBC and MSNBC isn’t enough. Companies want to maximize their resources, so while the two channels may approach a story differently, it’s unlikely that MSNBC will open a news bureau in some part of the world where NBC doesn’t already have a presence. Picking NBC, the Los Angeles Times and BBC.com gives you three different ownership groups, three different corporate cultures and three different perspectives on the news.
Pick the mix that works best for you and you’ll quickly find that the variety will enhance your understanding of the news.
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