Ownership of News Media

Abstract

Does media ownership matter for the news that is produced? In the course of the twentieth century when journalistic professionalization advanced in most Western democracies, journalistic norms were thought of as a “firewall” between the management side and the journalistic side of a media company. Editors and media managers were expected to make decisions purely on professional criteria. However, recent developments, such as increasing commercialization and concentration of media markets, have let scholars to question the role of ownership in news production. Moreover, comparative research emerging in the field of journalism studies has shown that the parameters of news production differ between various countries—with ownership being one of them.