by Jason Downs

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

Can democracy flourish if media ownership is limited?

The simple answer to the question is yes, assuming the type of democracy being discussed is democracy in the American sense and that the media is owned by a limited number of private entities. Granted, both assumptions are significantly speculative, but they are innately important to the answer.

American democracy is based on the concept of a republic of law. The terms democracy and republic are often used interchangeably, but, despite the fact that the boundaries between the two have noticeably dimmed over the last several decades, they are not the same constructs.

The point being, the founders of this country were extremely concerned about establishing a true democracy because it was understood that majority rule, while sounding good in theory, is the most basic element of a mob. If 20 out of 30 people believe that everyone on the block should only have white cars-or worse yet, hang someone, then democracy wins while individual liberty loses. That's not the kind of democracy anyone wants to flourish, regardless of who owns the media.

More to the point, unless the government is the one owning the media, even a small number of voices can still generate competition for ideas, and that is what has been demonstrably apparent over the last decade or so. NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, and their internet components currently dominate most of the news media. Their coverage is almost identical in word and thought on most national issues even though they are owned by different entities, and they never really faced any significant opposition until the advent of FOX News Channel. Incidentally (or maybe specifically), Fox's share of the market has grown exponentially over the years. Whether you agree with the message or not, they have been quite successful.

In reality, the true strength of American democracy is its ties to the philosophy and political structures of capitalism and individual liberty. As such, even if only a handful of individuals owned all the media outlets, their message could not be uniformly dishonest or manipulative without government collusion. If the cost of running a radio or TV station was uniformly easy (or difficult for that matter) and no one received special treatment or consideration from the government, then the number of owners would be irrelevant because the content would be subject to the free market.

At the risk of mentioning another "right wing" format, conservative talk radio is

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