This fifth edition of the classic work on control of the modern media describes the digital revolution and reveals startling details of a new communications cartel within the United States. "An eye-opening attack on the growing concentration of major media." - Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune.

When the first edition of The Media Monopoly was published in 1983, critics called Ben Bagdikian's warnings about the chilling effects of corporate ownership and mass advertising on the nation's news "alarmist." Since then, the number of corporations controlling most of America's daily newspapers, magazines, radio, television, books, and movies has dropped from fifty to ten. This new edition explores the political implications of this stunning shift, the impact of the Internet and other new media, and the effects of corporate media control on the news and entertainment that Americans see and hear.

"A groundbreaking work that charts a historical shift in the orientation of the majority of America's communications media - further away from the needs of the individual and closer to those of big business." - Christian Science Monitor

Customer Comments

A reader from Australia, August 4, 1999
Classic
A classic book on the subject - and it is time I read the latest edition. It will change the way you think about the media. Be prepared for a lot of thinking, and much of it will be depressing. All of it will be enlightening.

Like the old saying goes, freedom of the press is only for the man who owns one.

Analia Saban (asaban@loyno.edu) from New Orleans, USA, May 22, 1999
do you still think the government governs?
In his book, The Media Monopoly, Ben Bagdikian writes about the increasing centralization of the media by a small number of private organizations. He explains the concept, causes and consequences of the monopoly in the mass media. To begin with, the author points out that only twenty-three corporations own the eighty percent of American media (p. 21). They invest millions in different types of media for primarily two reasons: "money and influence" (p. 5). The power of these conglomerations is such that they can strongly influence the political and social views of the people, mainly through corruption and subtle persuasion techniques.

Monopoly is defined as the exclusive ownership of a service or a commodity. Ben Bagdikian applies the concept of monopoly to the media industry. Giant companies own almost every mass medium: "newspapers, magazines, books, radios, broadcast television, cable systems and programming, movies, recordings [and] video cassettes" (p. xiii). Examples of this phenomenon are Capital Cities/ABC, Gannett and Time Warner corporations, among others (p. 21,22). By buying every different medium, these powerful giants communicate messages based on the owner's interest; thus, narrowing down the available sources of information. For instance, ABC, CBS and NBC networks control the majority of the national television. In addition, another consequence of the media monopoly is that as a result of private ownership, media turned into a business. As Bagidikian says, "now magazines aren't started with the desire of someone to express what he believes; [instead], they become bland to avoid controversy" (p. 112, 85). For example, "newspapers get seventy five percent of their revenues from ads, general circulation magazines fifty percent, and broadcasting almost a hundred percent" (p.115)

I consider The Media Monopoly a powerful and convincing statement about the present condition of American media. Being aware of how so few corporations are able to control almost every aspect of our society, is the first step to open people’s mind so they can start analyzing media effects with more criticism. At least I’ve tried to open mine. Also, amazed by some facts the author provides, I’ve started telling my friends about how the idea of a controversial media we have is now turning into a pyramid were a small top controls everything below it. Disillusion is my feeling after finishing the book. I knew that there are always persuasion techniques in most messages the media transmits; but I wasn’t completely aware of how media conglomerates can affect us so powerfully. In order to continue living in a sane democracy, we need reliable and objective information. Otherwise, our citizen’s life turns into a fictitious world were we could lose our freedom of thoughts.

A reader from Oregon, February 20, 1999
What would you promote if you owned the media!?
This book completely cured me of activism. It explains all of societies problems so clearly that you will be dumbfounded as to the amazing simplicity of the solutions. With far less sophisticated and pervasive technology, Hitler was able to convince the so called Aryans that Jews were in fact rodents. How could this be? Media Monopoly explains it all very simply. People form opinions based on the information that they receive. Edward Bernays figured that out in the 20's and coined the term "Public Relations". Hitler's propaganda minister had all of Bernays books on his book shelf. The process is simple and effective. Our system of gov't is based on the transmission of misinformation. This book reveals things like that, and quite frankly, the book is just about as valuable as a 4 year college degree. It's the most important book I've ever read.

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