ABSTRACT
Corporate mergers and the consolidation of ownership in the American communications arena have long been sources of concern. The perception of a direct relationship between democracy and a vibrant communications system of diverse sources and owners is near universal (or, at least, is given universal lip-service), as is, for the most part, the converse fear that a communications system which rests in just a few hands will corrupt the freedom of speech, impair the practice of democracy, and impress an ideological pall on society. The Supreme Court's reasoning in the case of Associated Press v. United States (1945) expresses the issue plainly. In language that has since assumed a kind of talismanic status in discussions about the First Amendment and corporate power, the Court stated the following:
[The First] Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public, that a free press is a condition of a free society. Surely a command that the government itself shall not impede the free flow of ideas does not afford non-governmental combinations a refuge if they impose restraints upon that constitutionally guaranteed freedom. Freedom to publish means freedom for all and not for some. Freedom to publish is guaranteed by the Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep others from publishing is not. Freedom of the press from governmental in terference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression by private interests. (p. 20)
