Does Media Ownership Matter?

Leading media scholar Rod Benson discusses his major new book about the economic underpinnings of journalism and its role in democratic societies

Location: Chemistry SR 1.53G (follow this link for directions)

Does it matter who owns and funds the media? As journalists and management consultants set off in search of new business models, there's a pressing need to understand anew the economic underpinnings of journalism and its role in democratic societies. Rodney Benson’s major new co-authored study, How Media Ownership Matters, provides a fresh approach to understanding news media power, moving beyond the typical emphasis on market concentration or media moguls. Through a comparative analysis of the US, Sweden, and France, as well as interviews of news executives and editors and an original collection of industry data, the book maps and analyzes four ownership models: market, private, civil society, and public. Highlighting the effects of organizational logics, funding, and target audiences on the content of news, Benson and his colleagues identify both the strengths and weaknesses various forms of ownership have in facilitating journalism that meets the democratic ideals of reasoned, critical, and inclusive public debate. Join us to hear Benson discussing this vitally important new book.

Rodney Benson is Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication and Affiliated Faculty in Sociology at New York University. He is the author of Shaping Immigration News: A French-American Comparison, co-author of Public Media and Political Independence, and co-editor of Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field. His theorizing and research on news media ownership, funding, and audiences have appeared in NiemanLab, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Conversation, and leading social scientific journals.