Who Owns the Media?: The Media Independence Project

Abstract

While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States just repealed a 42-year-old rule blocking broadcast media mergers, which will most probably lead to more newspapers, radio stations and television channels being owned by a handful of media companies, it is more important than ever to improve our understanding of the ownership structure of general information media outlets. This project contributes to the quest for media ownership transparency by construing datasets on the structure of media ownership in France and in Spain. We show that in both countries, the ownership structure of the media is very complex and not transparent. Moreover, when we focus on private owners, we find an over-representation of the “financial and insurance services” sector, particularly striking if we compare it to the “information and communication” sector whose capital share is much lower.