Constructing a worldview: Media conglomerates and news coverage, 1995--1999

The pervasiveness of media in society is evidenced in the increased concentration in media ownership since the 1980s. The proliferation of media ownership through mergers and acquisitions has had a profound effect on the media and in turn may influence the news and information provided to the public. The focus of this dissertation is to research corporate media ownership in an effort to address economic, global, and regulatory forces that influence media concentration, as well as strategies used by media organizations to adjust to a changing industry. The two research questions are: (1) How have economic, global, and regulatory issues influenced the strategies of media conglomerates? (2) How does media conglomeration influence news coverage? My goal was to explore what influence media concentration has had on the content of news coverage and the strategic initiatives used by corporate leaders to ensure their prominence in the industry.; This dissertation uses two research approaches, a critical analysis of four regulatory and policy documents that are salient to the media and a five-year content analysis of eight print and broadcast outlets. I found the strategies used by corporate leaders have contributed to their success in the media industry. These strategies include media firms that have capitalized on deregulation and a market facilitated by competition, the use of media executives as voices of authority to espouse the positives of concentration, the use of communications such as annual reports to advance corporate philosophies, and news coverage that casts media concentration as financial stories depicting good business practices. The media are viable institutions and the future in a concentrated market is unknown, however, what is certain is that the rapid growth of media conglomerates in a market-driven economy will continue for some time to come.