Media Ownership Regulation Research Articles

Between two (in)competencies: A critical view on media ownership regulation in the EU

Abstract

The Diversity Policy Model and Assessment of the Policy

Diversity is a central policy goal in achieving democracy, which has guided the Federal Communications Commission’s action in media ownership regulation. Although the role of diversity in sustaining democracy is presumable, the diversity principle and regulatory concepts applied to communications policy seem far from reaching a practical consensus. Among the regulatory challenges to achieving diversity goals are controversy on a theoretical level, inconsistent measurement, the interplay of conflicting public interest motivations, and the changes in the media system. This article investigates the diversity policy within a broad context of legal, political, economic, and sociocultural grounds: It proposes an integrative policy model that offers a platform for the analysis of the policy implications and decisions, analyzes the existing policy imposed to achieve diversity goals, and suggests alternative ways of responding to current regulatory challenges for strengthening policymaking.

Policy, Economic, and Business Challenges of Media Ownership Regulation

This article explores the context and competing interests inmedia ownership policy, arguing that the current environments createregulatory uncertainty that harms both public and private interests. Itexplores challenges and conflicts that constrain policy, contemporary policy trends, the role of economics in creating conditions that are the impetus for policy, and needs for novel approaches in addressing ownership concerns in the contemporary environment.

Enter the Grecian Horse? Regulation of Foreign Ownership of the Media in the UK

This article reviews national media ownership regulation in the UK. It places the UK's regime in an international context, showing it to be less onerous than some comparable countries and more onerous than others, and in a historical context, examining the changing configuration of UK media ownership and regulation. It assesses the economic and cultural effects of UK national media ownership regulation and identifies differences in and between some recent UK government policy documents on this subject (including the Draft Communications Bill of 2002). The article identifies national ownership regulation as applying only in the broadcasting sector and this sector is compared with others, notably film, newspapers and telecommunications. The dominant theme in UK government policy is identified as one of removal of national ownership regulation and, should government and parliament choose to frame the Communications Bill accordingly, an alternative method of promoting national cultural and economic goals in the broadcasting sector is identified.