Most of Britain’s media is owned by a handful of powerful corporations – and their dominance is only getting stronger. We need strong government action to break up monopolies and make sure more voices can be heard.
The animation is on both facebook and youtube.
The UK’s media is dominated by a handful of corporations. In 2021, just three companies dominate 83% of the national newspaper market (up from 71% in 2015, when we made the video above). These newspapers – and their billionaire owners – have an enduring influence over the news agenda, including television news and the BBC. Meanwhile, today’s digital giants constitute the largest concentrations of power that the world has ever seen.
Democracies need vibrant and plural media, where people can hear a range of conflicting views and perspectives, in order to function. Yet across the world we see mergers and acquisitions and media companies condensing media power with little control or intervention, narrowing the public conversation and undermining democratic institutions. Governments need to act to counter increasing concentration of ownership, and to promote new funding models to support a wider range of voices in the public sphere.