ABSTRACT
A hallmark of the American political system is the promise of the First Amendment that thegovernment shall not abridge the freedomof thepress.The freepresshas evolved from printed news pamphlets and the penny press to thewired andwireless forms of electronic mass media. In general, the modern media have been recognized as participants in a theoretical marketplace of ideas where information commodities are offered for public consumption and debate. Democracy demands a free and wide exchange of information from a diverse and antagonistic pool of information sources (Associated Press v. United States, 1945).When there is a threat to thenumberof diverse andantagonistic information sources, such as in the case of consolidation, some policymakers, scholars, and others call for government regulationor deregulation to satisfy the public interest in themarketplace of ideas. There is no doubt that the information in the marketplace of ideas has social, political, and economic value. It is in the economic framework that this chapter seeks to answer questions related to the economics of media consolidation. This chapter seeks to provide an examination of the economics of media consolidation by exploring some of the key issues related to changes in media market structures. Specifically, we define media consolidation, highlight historical trends in the regulation of media ownership, analyze past research dealing with media ownership and the effects of structural changes in media markets, and make recommendations regarding the future of research in the economics of media consolidation.
