Media Conglomerate, discuss?

Question

Is the recent expansion of conglomerate media ownership positive or negative for the american public?

Does increasted conglorate media ownership hurt the public's ability to acquire needed information?

Does it make acquisition of that information easier or more difficult?

Answer 1

Like any other thing, this has both positive and negative effects. On the plus side, the advantages may include:
1-Greater professionalism
2-Easier access to detailed info in various formats (written, oral, visual, and electronic); ie: more integrated communication solutions and experiences
3-Large size means economies of scale; ie: lower cost per unit (or per viewer) as the number of units produced (or viewers served) increases. This, simply, means cheaper info access.

However, on the negative side, we can find such drawbacks as:
1-Takeovers and integrations (mergers) mean less competition and greater risks of monopoly
2-Greater risk of receiving biased media content (as you are now hearing the news from less viewpoints)
3-Mergers and takeovers open the door to such social problems as bribery (to make the merger take place without much government opposition) and job cuts (redundancies)

I hope these brief points have helped you. I have more in-depth details. Contact me via email or IM if you really need more detailed insight.