Convergence and Consolidation in Journalism

Journalism in America faces a major problem not in the future, but now. Large corporations are taking over numerous news sources which is causing a consolidation in the industry. This affects each and every person in this country that keeps up with current events from the media; whether it’s in a newspaper or magazine, or even the internet and television, people are being affected.

Every news source that is owned by different people or different corporations has their own ideas on what should and should not be published. All news reporting is based on company policies and the owner’s preferences. This allows for a type of diversity on what is reported on and eventually published. Dissimilar points of views are needed in the journalism industry and should not be limited to a few companies’ policies.

There is no denying that people favor some news sources over others, and the people have the right to chose what they want. The availability of this choice shrinks everyday that the larger corporations invest more into the convergence of news sources.

A statistic from Melvin Mencher’s News Reporting and Writing claims that “four of five newspapers are owned by groups…” as opposed to fifty years ago when “families owned almost all the daily newspapers” (p. 74-75). It sounds like these “groups” or large corporations are monopolizing on the industry, but legally they are doing nothing wrong. Does a change need to be made?

What’s best for the owners of the large news reporting corporations is not what is best for the majority of people living in this country. Most of these corporations are more interested in money, which means more focus advertising and less focus on news reporting and journalism. The quality and selection of reporting should be just as important to these corporations as it is to family owned newspapers. News reporting and journalism isn’t just about putting out what will “sell,” it’s about getting the necessary information into the minds of the people.