For the most part, the media is free. But independent?
Consider the frightening loss of diversity in media voices:
• Less than 20 percent of our newspapers are independent and locally owned.
• In just the past decade, the 10 largest owners of local television stations have tripled the number of stations they own.
• About one-third of the population now listens to radio stations owned by a single company.Bad things happen when media conglomerates swallow up independent voices: Quality is diminished, local news and investigative journalism disappear, differing points of view vanish, community service becomes an afterthought, and jobs are eliminated. All are sacrificed in an incessant drive for ever-higher profits.