The Consolidation of American Media

A recent report from the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute explains why what it describes as a “crisis” in American media “can only be fully understood by exposing the commercial logics that have been embedded within it from the start.” The report chronicles the half-century-long erosion of the FCC’s “public interest” mandate, and the simultaneous turn against ownership caps throughout American media. In 1983, the report reminds us, some 50 companies controlled most of the media landscape. By the early 2000s, that number was down to six.

Below, you’ll find a selection of stories about media ownership in the past, and how consolidation in the film, broadcast, and music industries has affected both the art and entertainment that is produced, and the news that Americans see and hear.

This collection was featured in Continuum, the joint newsletter of Bunk and HNN, on May 7, 2026: https://tinyurl.com/Continuum5-7-26