Media Myths Making Sense Of The Debate Over Media Ownership Adam D Thierer by Adam D. Thierer 9780965957809, 9781930865716, 0965957802, 1930865716 instant download after payment.

Are media companies in this country too big? How big is “too big”? Is the media diverse enough and competitive enough today? And what relationship, if any, does media size have to the health of our democracy? These are the questions Adam Thierer, Director of the Center for Digital Media Freedom at the Washington-based Progress & Freedom Foundation, explores in Media Myths: Making Sense of the Debate over Media Ownership. He concludes that, contrary to what some media critics claim, to the extent there was ever a “Golden Age” of media in America, we are living in it today. The media sky has never been brighter and it is getting brighter with each passing year. Citizens have more media options today than ever before. Indeed, far from living in a world of “media monopoly” we now live in a world of media multiplicity. Regarding claims that extensive media regulation benefits consumers, Thierer shows that such rules do little to encourage increased media diversity and competition. Indeed, more often than not, they thwart important new developments that could enhance media diversity and competition. Citizens will be better off without such regulations, Thierer argues, because their private actions and preferences will have a greater bearing in shaping media markets than arbitrary federal regulations. No matter how large any given media outlet is today, it is ultimately just one of hundreds of sources of news, information, and entertainment that we have at our collective disposal. It is just one voice in our contemporary media cacophony, shouting to be heard above the others. Information and entertainment cannot be monopolized in a free society, especially in today’s world of media abundance.