Media Governance: A Valuable Instrument for Debate on Risks?

The author analyses the trans-nationalization of media industries in Europe through the lens of media ownership. The industrial structure as well as the ownership structure of the media control who may have access to the “marketplace of ideas.” Ownership concentration is a fundamental problem of democracy. Governments and corporate power elites ease the rules for media ownership, whereas the public fear a devastating loss of pluralism and diversity. Concentration of ownership matters and requires scrutiny as well as new policy initiatives. The author proposes “media governance” as a complementary model of co- and self-regulation on a national and European level.