Media Ownership

Background

The earliest incarnations of news media in the United States were the heavily partisan newspapers of the early to mid-1800s. They were financed primarily by political parties, and thus were tightly—and publicly—associated with specific political perspectives. There were then multiple political parties that could viably influence the political process, and the newspapers controlled by these parties were an essential means of exerting that influence. These papers were overtly, and unapologetically, partisan. They practiced a style of journalism that many would argue was very different from contemporary standards, in which objectivity and balance are more often given priority. These “partisan [Page 887]press” outlets were explicitly devoted to advancing the political interests of the parties that controlled them.

The newspaper business underwent a wide range of changes in the mid-1800s, including a shift from political party to advertiser support and a changing economic profile of newspaper readers. The end result was a more commercialized industry—but one that still maintained the capacity for substantial political influence. Reflecting these altered characteristics of the journalistic field and of news consumers, the nature of newspaper ownership began to change as well. Newspapers were owned and controlled by individuals primarily interested in generating profits, but also in some cases still interested in asserting a particular political agenda.

Following this change, news outlets frequently became part of family dynasties, passed down through generations. The history of the American news media is filled with well-known families who for years steered some of the country's most well-known and influential news outlets. The Ochs-Sulzberger's have for more than a century controlled The New York Times. The Chandler family controlled the Los Angeles Times for nearly as long. The Bancroft family controlled The Wall Street Journal for more than a century before the paper's 2007 sale to News Corp. And many smaller newspapers similarly were long associated with individual family ownership.

As the news business continued to expand in the twentieth century, first into radio and then television, the commercialization of the industry intensified. As a result, family ownership went into decline, as many news organizations become part of large, publicly traded companies eager to reap the profits associated with the various media sectors. In the early 2000s, the traditional notion of the family-owned newspaper (or broadcast station, for that matter) is disappearing, as most news media outlets—large and small; print and electronic—are becoming a part of large, publicly traded companies, with a wide range of individual and institutional stockholders. It is also important to note that these news outlets frequently have been integrated into larger corporate structures that often have little to do with journalism.

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